All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Well, we're in the thick of it now -- apples, pumpkins, decorative gourds and foliage people from other parts of the country might actually be willing to pay to see. So pull on a wool sweater, go for a hike, find a apple cider donut, and do some other fun stuff this weekend.

We've raked up a pile of stuff to do for you to dive into after the jump. Got something planned you don't see there? Drop it in the comments and share it with the rest of us.

And whatever you're up to this weekend -- weather you've got two days or three -- enjoy!

Chowderfest
Sunday: Troy's annual Chowderfest is this weekend. Competing restaurants will be offering samples at their locations around downtown Troy, and there will be music and activities around Monument Square. Tasting tickets are $1 a piece. One ticket gets you one cup of chowder. Sample as many as you want and vote for your favorite. Sunday noon to 4 pm - free admission, tasting tickets $1 each

International Flavorfeast
Saturday: Saratoga will host an International Flavorfeast. Restaurants from around the Spa City will offer $1 samples of dishes from a range of international cuisines, Turkish to Italian to German to Thai. Here's the list of participating restaurants. Saturday 11 am-4 pm - free admission, $1 per sample

Fall Fun

Carrot Festival
Sunday: Congregation Agudat Achim hosts its annual Carrot Festival in Schenectady. "The event showcases foods and desserts from all over the world including carrot cake, local produce, music and entertainment, vendors and crafters, a miniature health fair, and plenty of activities to keep kids entertained." Sunday 10 am to 5 pm - free admission

Maple Ski Ridge Fall Festival
Saturday: Crafts,food, a pie eating contest, a cupcake competition and a car and tractor show at the annual Maple Ski Ridge Fall Festival. Saturday 10 am to 4pm - free admission

Autumn in Austerlitz Festival
Sunday: The annual Autumn in Austerlitz Festival returns with costumes, crafts, blacksmithing, and sheep shearing demonstrations, border collies, music and more. Sunday 11 am to 4 pm - free admission

Goold Orchard Apple Festival
Saturday/Sunday: Goold Orchards in Castleton on Hudson hosts its 27th annual Apple Festival this weekend with crafters, food, pumpkins, apples and music. Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 5pm - $9 / free for kids under 12

Liberty Ridge Farm's Fall Festival
Friday-Sunday: Pumpkin patch, cornfield maze, and other fall farm adventures at Liberty Ridge Farm's ongoing fall festival.

Schuyler Farms Corn Maze
Saturday-Sunday: Schuyler Farms is offering its annual corn maze with hayrides, a petting zoo and gemstone mining a corn maze and more. Saturday and Sunday starting at 10 am - $8 per person

Freak yourself out

Saratoga Scare Fair
Friday & Saturday: The Saratoga Scare Fair is open for the season. It's a spooky teen/adult haunted house at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds. Friday and Saturday nights through October form 6:30pm to 10pm - $10

Haunted corn maze
Friday-Saturday: Schuyler Farms has a haunted corn maze. Friday and Saturday 7-10 pm (last ticket sold at 9:15 pm) - $14

Haunted Hayrides
It's Haunted Hayride season at Double M Haunted Hayrides.

Field of Horrors
The Field of Horrors in Brunswick opens for the season this weekend with four haunted attractions. Friday-Sunday, 6pm to 11pm, -- $25.

Big Truck Day
Saturday: Guilderland Hight School's annual Big Truck Day returns this weekend. Construction trucks, fire trucks, dump trucks, cement mixers and other big trucks will be there to see and explore. Their drivers will be there to explain how they work. There will also be a bounce house and other family-friendly fun. Saturday 10am to 1pm - $5 per child, $1 per adult

The Way We Were Car Show
Sunday: Front Street in the village of Ballston Spa will be taken over by the annual The Way We Were Car Show. Classic cars all along the street. Sunday 9 am to 5 pm - free admission

Ultimate Field Day
Saturday: The Joseph L. Bruno Stadium hosts Ultimate Field Day, a field day for kids and adults with an inflatable obstacle course, Tug-A-War, soccer shootout challenge, quarterback challenge, prizes, music and food. Saturday, 9 am to 12:30 pm and noon to 2pm - $20 / $12 for kids / $45 for a family 4 pack

Curling
Saturday/Sunday: The Albany Curling Club has a free open house at its facility off Schoolhouse Road in Guilderland this weekend. You'll have a chance to give curling a try for yourself (bring clean sneakers so you can go on the ice) and check out the place. Saturday from 10 am-4 pm and Sunday from noon-4 pm - free

Stage

A Chorus Line
Friday/Saturday: Home Made Theater opens its new production of A Chorus Line at the Spa Little Theater. Friday & Saturday at 8pm - $26 & $29

Little Shop of Horrors
Friday-Sunday: Ghent Playhouse opens a new production of Little Shop of Horrors this weekend. Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2pm - $20

Wait Until Dark
Friday-Sunday: The Theater Institute at Sage presents Wait Until Dark. Frederick Knott's thriller about a con man who lays a trap for a blind woman and it becomes a terrifying game of cat and mouse. Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2pm - $15

4000 Miles
Friday-Sunday: Capital Rep continues its production of the dramatic comedy 4000 Miles. "Seeking solace at the end of his cross-country bike trip, 21-year old Leo arrives unannounced at the Greenwich Village apartment of his 91-year old Jewish grandmother, Vera. Instead, he gets a big life lesson from his former outspoken, activist grandma. Over the course of a single month, these two outsiders infuriate, bewilder, and ultimately change one another forever." Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2pm - various prices

ConfettiFest
Friday-Sunday: Confetti Stage's annual new play festival, ConfettiFest, presents six plays by Capital Region playwrights. Performances at the Albany Masonic Hall. Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2 pm - $15 / $10 students

Proof
Friday-Sunday: Circle Theater presents David Auburn's Proof. Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm - $18 / $10 (under 18)

Brevities: A Matinee of Vaudeville Vignettes
Sundays: Proctors travels back to its Vaudeville roots on Sunday with Brevities: A matinee of Vaudeville Vignettes produced by Carol Bradshaw and performed by a talented cast that includes Tony Award winner Paul Kreppel. Sunday at 3pm - free, donations to the Proctors historical society will be accepted

Comedy

Theatresports!
Friday: Think Whose Line is it Anyway? The Mop & Bucket Company returns to Proctors Underground to compete in improv games, creating scenes and songs based on audience suggestions. This week MopCo is on the main stage at Proctors. Friday 8 pm - $14 / $6 students and seniors.

Owen Benjamin
Friday: Comedian/actor Owen Benjamin brings his blend of stand-up and musical comedy to The Linda. Saturday at 8 pm - $17

Music

Friday: Granger Smith at Upstate Concert Hall
Country. 8 pm - $12 ahead $15 day of

Friday: The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain at Troy Music Hall
"They play ukuleles, they sing, they say funny things, they whistle..." 8 pm - $25 and up

Friday: The Ultimate Michael Experience at Proctors
Michael Jackson tribute on the main stage. 8 pm - $20 and up

Friday: That 1 Guy at Parish Public House
One-man band. 8 pm - $15

Saturday: Lucinda Williams at The Mahaiwe
Rock/folk/blues queen. 8 pm - $35 and up

Saturday: Albany Symphony Orchestra at The Palace
"An Evening with Emanuel Ax." 7 pm - $45 and up

Saturday: Dr. Dog at MASS MoCA
Indie rock. 8 pm - $25 ahead / $30 day of

Sunday: Lil Durk at Upstate Concert Hall
Rapper. (Rescheduled from August.) With: Hypno Carlito, D3V, King Flee, Jedi Ry. 8 pm - $30 ahead / $35 day of

Sunday: The Mark Knopfler show at The Palace is sold out.

Sunday: Audra McDonald at The Mahaiwe
Six-time Tony winner. 8 pm - $80 and up

Film

Wes Craven
It's the time of year for scary movies. The Madison Theater will be screening some Wes Craven flicks starting Friday -- the 1972 film The Last House on the Left and the original 1984 Freddie Kruger film A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Othello
Sunday/Monday: The Spectrum is screening the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Othello. Sunday at noon, Monday at 7 pm

4 Little Girls
Friday: The NYS Writers Institute film series presents a screening of Spike Lee's 1997 film 4 Little Girls, a documentary that chronicles the 1967 bombing of an African-American church in Alabama and a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. Friday at 7:30pm at Page Hall on the UAlbany Downtown Campus - free

Drive-ins
Yep, you can still see a drive-in movie this year. Here's what you can see this weekend:
+ Jericho: The Intern / Black Mass
+ Malta: Screen 1: Pan / Hotel Transylvania | Screen 2: The Martian/ The Intern

Museums/Galleries

Lego Building Challenge
Saturday-Monday: The Albany Institute of History and Art is holding its annual Lego Building Challenge this weekend. The theme this year is "Bridges, Buildings and Boats." Teams of four can compete. $5 per team, includes museum admission

The Capital Region in 50 Objects
If you have Monday off for Columbus Day, there's free admission at the Albany Institute of History and Art. So it could be a good time to check out the new Capital Region in 50 Objects exhibit, or catch the Seeing Double exhibit before its gone.
Here's what you can see:

Local Eats: What Does Your Food Say About You? and
The Schenectady County Historical Society continues its exhibit called Local Eats: What Does your Food Say About You? at the Mabee Farm. It examines how the food we eat relates to politics, technology, and where you come from. $5 / free for students

Also at the Mabee Farm: An exhibit called #schenectadydoesntsuck, featuring a look at the Electric City through the lens of the popular local Instagram account #schenectadydoesntsuck.

Air, Fat, Sugar & CO2 Exhibition
Saturday is the last day for Air, Fat, Sugar & CO2 at the Arts Center of the Capital Region.

Road trip
Spend 12 hours in The Berkshires, The Catskills or visit one of the many state parks in the Capital Region. Or take a hike.

Grant Cottage Civil War Encampment
Sunday: The Grant Cottage in Wilton is a beautiful place to see the fall foliage, and it's an interesting historic site. Ulysses Grant spent his last days at the cottage. This weekend there will be a Civil War encampment with artifacts, demonstrations, and activities for kids. Sunday 10 am to 4 pm - $10, free for kids under 10

From Scratch Club swap
Sunday: The popular From Scratch Club food swap returns to the Oakwood Community Center in Troy with both a swap and a visiting author. Alana Chernila, whose cookbook The Homemade Kitchen is out this week, will be there for both a pre-swap food writing class ($30), and a talk and Q&A during the swap. Sunday 3-5 pm - pre-registration required, $2 donation at the door to help cover venue expenses

Pasta class
Saturday: Deanna Fox leading a hands-on class at the Hillsdale General Store about making different forms of pasta -- fettuccine, ravioli, orecchiette, and sauces. Saturday 10:30 am - $70

Farmers' markets
The outdoor markets are coming to a close soon:
+ This is the last outdoor weekend for the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market. The market be on River Street Saturday from 9 am-2 pm. Then it moves indoors starting October 16.
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market will be in High Rock Park. It will be outdoors until October 31. Saturday from 9 am-1 pm
+ The Delmar Farmers Market is open for the season at Bethlehem Central Middle School. It's outdoors until November 7. Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket will be around Schenectady City Hall. Sunday from 10 am-2 pm.
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market will be outside the Lincoln Baths Sunday from 10 am-3 pm

Albany Institute, Capital Rep, Troy Music Hall, and The Mop & Bucket Company advertise on AOA.