All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

The last weekend of summer has officially arrived, though, let's be honest, we're already in cider donut and sweater mode. This weekend, as we straddle the fence between summer and fall, there is stuff to do from both seasons, from drive-in movies and outdoor music to farmers' markets and harvest festivals.

After the jump, you'll find our list. Got something planned that you don't see here? Drop it in the comment section and share with the rest of us.

And whatever you're up to, have a fantastic weekend.

LarkFest
LarkFest is this Saturday. Lark Street will be closed from Madison to Washington for the annual street festival. Activities and vendors will be set up along the street, and there will be music on two stages. Saturday 10 am-5:30 pm - free admission

Adirondack Balloon Festival
Friday-Sunday: The annual Adirondack Balloon Festival is underway with opportunities to see hundreds of hot air balloons in the early morning hours and moonlight launches in the evening. If you're heading to the airport to view the morning launches get there very early and expect traffic. free admission

More festivals

Hallowine Fest
Friday-Saturday: Altamont Vineyard is hosting a two-day Hallowine wine festival with wine pairings and a celebrity chef competition. advance ticket $85 / $125 at the door

Saratoga City Center Family Fun Day
Saturday: The annual Family Fun Day at the Saratoga Springs City Center includes a rock-climbing wall, bounce houses, a petting zoo, a kids cook-off and other family friendly activities. Saturday 10 am to 10pm - free admission

Clifton Park Farm Fest
Saturday-Sunday: Clifton Park's annual Farm Fest is this weekend, with farms around the area offering tours, apple picking, hayrides, music and more. Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 5pm

Saratoga Native American Festival
Saturday-Sunday: The Saratoga Native American Festivalis a Native America cultural celebration at Saratoga Spa State Park. Dancers, performers and craft vendors. Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 6 pm - free admission

Upper Madison Street Fair 2014
Sunday: Music, games, family friendly activities, food and drink at the annual Upper Madison Street Fair in Albany on Madison Avenue near the merge with Western Ave. Sunday from noon to 5pm - free admission

Henry Street Harvest Festival
Sunday: Saratoga Spring's annual Henry Street Harvest Festival returns with entertainment, kids activities, local vendors and more. Sunday from noon to 4 pm - free admission

Tour Yaddo
Sunday: The mansion and private areas of Yaddo, the famed artist retreat in Saratoga Springs, will be open this weekend for only the 6th time in the organization's history. Tours are $50. In the past they've been very popular and several sections are already sold out. Tickets are only available online.

Basilicascope
Friday-Saturday: Basilica Hudson's Basilicascope film festival gets underway Friday evening. Filmmaker Alex Cox will be on hand for discussion of his films Repo Man, Walker, and Straight to Hell. $10/screening / $25 for all three screenings with popcorn

Albany ISpy
The Albany ISpy history scavenger hunt starts this weekend. This year the hunt is focused on Albany's Center Square Neighborhood.

Saratoga Showcase Of Homes Weekend 1
Friday-Sunday: This is opening weekend for the Saratoga Showcase of Homes, with tours of fourteen new upscale homes around Saratoga County. On Friday there is a Chef's Showcase at which chefs from around the county will be cooking at the different showcase homes. Friday's event, from 5pm to 10pm, is $25. Saturday and Sunday 11am to 5pm - $20

Troy Restaurant Week
Friday-Sunday: Troy Restaurant Week continues with special prix fixe menus at restaurants around the city. The menus are spread among a range of price points: $5, $10, $20, $30.

Fresh Grass
Friday-Sunday: The Fresh Grass music festival returns to MASS MoCA. This year's lineup includes Emmylou Harris, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Sam Amidon, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and many others. three-day festival pass $92 / single-day tickets $33 and up

Music

Friday: 1964 the Tribute at Troy Music Hall
Beatles tribute act. 8 pm - $25 and up

Friday: Storyman at The Linda
Folk pop, formerly known as Guggenheim Grotto. 8 pm - $17

Friday: Buffalo Stack at Helsinki Hudson
Blues/Americana rock. With: Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. 9 pm - $12 ahead / $15 day of

Friday: Garage Bands at the APL
Hammer Hawk and Hill Haints play the last bands-in-the-garage show of the season. 6 pm - free

Saturday: Five Finger Death Punch at TU Center
Metal. With: Volbeat, Hellyeah, Nothing More. 6:20 pm - $25 and up

Saturday: Saint Rose Camerata at Massry Center
First show of the season at the Massry Center. Wind quintet. 7:30 pm - free

Film

"The Dude Abides"
Friday: It Came From Schenectady presents The Big Lebowski at the GE Theater at Proctors. Prizes and Lebowski-themed games throughout the night, and, of course, White Russians. Friday 8pm - $9 / $6 students

I, the Worst of All
Friday: The NYS Writers Institute Film Series returns for the fall season with the Spanish film I, The Worst of All [YO, LA PEOR DE TODAS]. "Based on a biography by Nobel laureate Octavio Paz, this film tells the story of the embattled 17th century nun, Sor Juana, who would come to be regarded as the mother of Mexican literature." Friday 7:30 pm, Page Hall on the UAlbany downtown campus - free

The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Sunday: The Spectrum is screening a filmed version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's new production of Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona. Sunday at noon - $15 / $12 for kids 12 and under

Drive-ins
Drive in season is coming to a close. Here's what's playing this weekend:
+ Malta: Screen 1: Maze Runner / Let's be Cops
| Screen 2: Dolphin Tale 2 / If I Stay
+ Jericho: Dolphin Tale 2 / Into the Storm
+ Hollywood: Dolphin Tale 2 / If I Stay

Theater

Family Furniture
Curtain Call Theater presents A.R. Gurney's Family Furniture, a coming of age tale of parents and children in the 1950s.

Pokegama Hotel
Our Own Productions presents Pokegama Hotel, an original musical set in a small town tavern in Minnesota.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Debuts Theater Company -- in the Westgate Plaza in Albany -- presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Laughs

MopCo
Friday: The Mop & Bucket Company is back at Proctors Underground with Chortal Combat, a shortform improv comedy show in which improvisers compete to create scenes and songs using audience suggestions. Friday 8pm - $14 / $6 for students and seniors.

Hudson Mohawk Antique Truck Show
Saturday-Sunday: Nearly 300 antique trucks will be on display this weekend at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds for the 25th Annual Hudson Mohawk Antique Truck Show. Saturday and Sunday, Gates open at 8 am - $1 per person, under 12 free.

"1614" - The 37th New Netherland Seminar
Saturday: Scholars from the Netherlands and the United States will be at the State Museum to discuss historical and archeological evidence from the 17th century Dutch settlement of North America at the New Netherland Seminar. "Topics include Dutch affairs and Native Americans, relations between the Dutch and their French and English neighbors in the New World, and historical evidence of the location and appearance of the Dutch trading post of Fort Nassau." (Fort Nassau was located in what's now present-day Albany.) Saturday 9am to 4:15pm - $95 / $45 for students with ID (if you are registering for the seminar, a box lunch is included)

Spirit of America
Friday-Sunday: The TU Center is hosting performances of "Spirit of America," a production put on by the US Army. Blurbage: "Historical accounts, taken directly from Soldiers' letters and diaries, provide the story line for this powerful drama, designed to entertain while presenting the history and development of the U.S. Army from its origins through the wars, conflicts and missions that have molded the Army and the nation. The history of the nation will come to life through historical reenactments, musical entertainment and precision military drill." various times - free

Maureen Corrigan: So We Read On
Saturday: Journalist/author/critic Maureen Corrigan will be at Northshire Saratoga for a conversation about her new book So We Read On, about The Great Gatsby. "With rigor, wit, and infectious enthusiasm, Corrigan inspires us to re-experience the greatness of Gatsby and cuts to the heart of why we are, as a culture, "borne back ceaselessly" into its thrall." Corrigan will be talking with WAMC's Joe Donahue. Saturday 7 pm - $28 for one seat and one book / $35 for two seats and one book

Back to School Expo
Saturday: The annual Back to School Expo returns to the Empire State Plaza on Saturday. Science and engineering experiments, entertainment, family friendly activities and celebrity appearances. Saturday from 10am to 3pm - $7 online / $8 at the door / kids under 2 are free.

Pop-up shops
Some of the pop up shops in Downtown Albany are open this weekend. Here's a partial schedule.

Apples
Apple season has arrived and local orchards are starting up pick your own. The early season apples should be transitioning into mid season varieties. So there should be some new varieties ready to be picked.

Cooking with apples
Saturday: Different Drummer's Kitchen is offering a class with Deanna Fox on what to do with all of those apples. Make classic applesauce, apple pie, tarte tatin, Dutch baby, apple slaw, savory apple tart, and an easy-to-make mulled cider. Saturday at noon - $55

Corn maze
A walk through a corn maze is a sure sign that autumn is arriving soon. Fort Ticonderoga's Corn Maze Adventure is now open. You can wander through the maize maze looking for history and clues. 10 am-5 pm daily

Check out a state park
Visit a local state park, like Schodack Island, Cherry Plain, Moreau, Grafton Lakes or Peebles Island.

Farmers' Markets
Outdoor farmers' markets should be flush with produce. Enjoy now -- it'll be fading out soon.
+ The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market will be on River Street in downtown Troy Saturday morning.
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is at the High Rock Park pavilions on Saturday.
+ The Delmar Farmers Market is at Bethlehem Central Middle School on Saturday.
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is around Schenectady City on Sunday.
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market will be on the front lawn of the Lincoln Baths Sunday.

Saint Rose, MopCo and Basilica Hudson advertise on AOA. AOA is a media sponsor for the Upper Madison Street Fair.