All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Summer! Summer! Summer!

Sorry. We're excited about the summer. We should be focused on telling you what there is to do this weekend.

Weekend! Weekend! Weekend! Focus. So, we just checked the forecast and it calls for lots of sunshine.

Sunshine! Sunshine! Sunshine! OK, you know what, we're not even going to try. After the jump, a bountiful list of summer stuff to do.

Stuff to do! Stuff to do! Stuff to... Seriously, we'll stop now.

If you're planning something you don't see here, we hope you'll tell us about it in the comments. And whatever you're up to, have a fantastic weekend!

Saratoga Jazz Festival
Saturday-Sunday: The annual Saratoga Jazz Festival is at SPAC this weekend. Headliners include Smokey Robinson, The Isley Brothers, Chick Correa, and Shemekia Copeland. Saturday and Sunday various times -- $75 and up

Troy Night Out
Friday: It's Troy Night Out, which has a family and Pet's Night Out theme this month. Shops and galleries will be open late. Friday 5-9 pm.

+ Troy Cloth & Paper is holding an Ink & Drink party to celebrate their 5th anniversary. DJ DRAGONETTE will be there, and there will be Rare Form beer and cupcakes. $18 to ink your own Troy Bot T-shirt and enjoy some beer. The party is open to the public as part of Troy Night Out. Friday 5-9 pm

+ Superior Merchandise Company has an art reception featuring the work of Albany artist Kevin Mosca and music on the back patio by Bell Skinner and Candy Ambulance.

Hudson River Exchange Summer Market
Saturday-Sunday: The Hudson River Exchange Summer Market returns to Henry Hudson Riverfront Park in Hudson this weekend. More than 100 independent vendors with "high quality handmade goods, unique vintage finds and farm fresh food." Saturday and Sunday 10 am-4 pm -- free admission

Swimming
Many Capital Region community swimming pools are opening this weekend, and most area beaches have been open for a few weeks. Here's our list of local pools, beaches and spray pads, complete with dates, pricing and other important details.

Strawberries
Strawberry season has started at farms around the region, and it only lasts a few weeks in some places. So this should be a good weekend to berry picking. Here are a bunch of places where you can pick your own.

Baseball

+ Friday: The Tri-City ValleyCats take on the Vermont Lake Monsters in a special night dedicated to local youth baseball organizations. Friday 7 pm - $5-10 ahead / $7-12 day of

+ Saturday: The Albany Dutchmen take on the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs at Christian Plumeri Sports Complex in Albany. Saturday 7:05 pm - $5 / students and seniors $4 (with ID) / $3 for kids 12 and under / under 4 free

+ Sunday: The Albany Dutchman will square off with the Amsterdam Mohawks at Christian Plumeri Sports Complex in Albany. Sunday 5 pm - $5 / students and seniors $4 (with ID) / $3 for kids 12 and under / under 4 free

Stage

South Pacific
Friday-Sunday: It's the opening weekend for the Mac-Haydn Theatre's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. Friday-Sunday -- various times and prices

Brighton Beach Memoirs
Friday-Sunday: Curtain Call Theater presents Brighton Beach Memoirs, the first installment of Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical Eugene Morris Jerome trilogy. Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm -- $24

Comedy

John Lovitz
Friday-Saturday: SNL alum John Lovitz brings his stand-up act to the Funny Bone at Crossgates this weekend. Friday at 7:30pm, Saturday at 7pm and 10pm -- $30

R.C. Smith
Friday-Saturday: R.C. Smith headlines at The Comedy Works in Saratoga Springs this weekend. Friday 8 pm / Saturday 7:30 and 9:30 pm - $15 advance / $20 at the door / dinner package $40 advance / $45 at the door

Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show
Saturday: Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show returns to Proctors with headliner Anthony DeVito. Saturday 8 pm - $15 advance / $20 at the door

Film

Purple Rain
Friday: It Came From Schenectady is hosting Goodnight Sweet Prince, a Prince tribute with a screening of Purple Rain and seven Prince video shorts. Friday 7:30 pm -- $9 adult / $6 student

Drive-in
Here's what you can see this weekend:
+ Hollywood: Finding Dory and Alice Through the Looking Glass
+ Jericho Drive In: Finding Dory and Warcraft: The Beginning
+ Malta: Screen 1: Finding Dory and Alice Through the Looking Glass | Screen 2: Independence Day: Resurgence and Central Intelligence

Music

Friday: Miranda Lambert at SPAC
Country star. With: Kip Moore, Brothers Osborne. 7:30 pm -- $30 and up

Friday-Sunday: Old Songs Festival at Altamont Fairgrounds
Family-friendly festival of folk, traditional, Celtic, and world music. Friday-Sunday various times -- single-day tickets $40 and up ($25 and up youth) / festival pass $135 ($60 youth)

Friday: Sean Rowe at Dali Mamma
Small show in the cafe on Broadway in downtown Albany. 6 pm -- $50

Friday: Crazy Swedes with Ampevene at the National Museum of Dance
Local fusion to start off the jazz festival weekend in Saratoga.

Saturday: KISS Army at The Palace moved to The Hollow
KISS tribute. 8 pm -- $25

Saturday: Don Byron at Helsinki Hudson
Jazz. 9 pm -- $25

Saturday: The Suitcase Junket at MASS MoCA
One-man band of mountain ballads. 8 pm -- $12 ahead / $18 day of

Sunday: Bill Kirchen at The Hangar
Rockabilly guitarist. With: The Nouveaux Honkies. 8 pm -- $20 ahead / $25 at door

Yol Circus
Saturday: Marquise Productions continues its local tour of YOL, a circus performance. This week it will be at P.S. 21 in Chatham. Saturday 7:30 pm -- $20 / $5 for students

History

Mapping the History of Schuyler Flatts through Archeology
Saturday: The he Schuyler Flatts Cultural Park in Menands will be hosting a tour of the site and a talk on the Schuyler Flatts Burial Project. Saturday 10 am to 3 pm

Ghosts of Albany walking tour
Friday-Saturday: Ghosts of Albany -- a 90-minute walking tour filled with haunted tales and ghost trivia meets in front of the Albany Hilton. Friday and Saturday 7:30 pm - $30

Living History Weekend
Saturday-Sunday: Mabee Farm Historic Site is hosting a Living History Weekend with re-enactors playing patriots and loyalists. Tradesmen, artisans, blacksmiths, musicians, laundresses, surgeons and others will help navigate visitors through both sides of the story of the American Revolution. Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday 10 am to 3 pm -- $5 for adults, free for children and students

Trolley tours
Saturday: The Irish American Heritage Museum is offering horse-drawn trolley tours of Albany every Saturday at 11 am and 1 pm from this weekend through August. Saturday 11 am & 1 pm -- $25

Paws in the Park
Saturday: The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society is hosting the Paws in the Park fundraising walk and community day on the Siena College campus. There will be activities for humans and for dogs, including a doggy fun zone, music, contests, and vendors. Saturday 9 am

Ballston Spa Village Family Fun Day
Sunday: Saratoga County Fairgrounds hosts the annual Ballston Spa Village Family Fun Day. Music, food, kids activities a bounce house and fireworks. Sunday, 3pm to 10pm -- free admission.

Schenectady H.O.M.E.S Fair
Sunday: The city of Schenectady its annual H.O.M.E.S (Home Ownership Made Easy) Fair. In addition to the citywide open house for homes in neighborhoods throughout the city, there will also be downtown apartments open for visits. (While you're in town, you may want to check out the rose garden in Schenectady's Central Park.) Sunday 10 am to 2 pm in the Jay Street Marketplace -- free admission

Albany Barn BBQ Birthday Bash
Friday: The Albany Barn is holding a barbecue to celebrate its tenth birthday. Food, drinks, paint and collage, music, raffles and door prizes. Friday at 7pm -- $25 and $50.

Russell Banks
Friday: Award-winning author Russell Banks will be at Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs reading from Voyager: Travel Writings, his new collection of travel essays. Friday 7 pm

Art/museums
Wander through one of the Capital Region's museums:

Alexander Hamilton
The Albany Institute of History and Art has opened a new exhibit on the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton and his time in Albany. Hamilton, who has experienced a resurgence in popularity due to Lin Manuel Miranda's award winning musical based on his life, married Elizabeth Schuyler at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany and visited the city often after that. The exhibit highlights objects related to Hamilton, including a portrait from the permanent collection of Union College. On display through December 31.

Splendor, Myth, and Vision
The Clark's new exhibition -- Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes from the Prado is now open. Blurbage: "The exhibition explores the role of the nude in European painting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the collecting and display practices of the Spanish royalty. Twenty-four of the paintings have never before been shown in America." It's on display through October 10.

Best of SUNY Student Art
This year's Best of SUNY Student Art Exhibition is now on display at the State Museum. It's juried presentation of student work from across SUNY's many campuses. "The works on exhibit at the New York State Museum represent the wide range of media being studied by art students within SUNY and cover the traditional areas of drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture, as well as digital imaging, photography, and mixed media installations." It's on display through October 23.

The exhibit Imaging the American West: Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art also continues the State Museum. It includes works by artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Paul Manship, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frederic Remington, and Charles M. Russell. It will be on display through July 17.

Hyde Collection
This is the final weekend to see The Hyde Collection's exhibit looking at the work of Christo & Jeanne-Claude.

Ansel Adams
The Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown has an exhibit of early works by Ansel Adams on display through September 18.

MASS MoCA
+ Explode Every Day: An Inquiry into the Phenomena of Wonder
+ Alex Da Corte's Free Roses
+ Here Comes the Sun in the Kidspace

Fence
The annual Fence show closes this weekend at the Arts Center of the Capital Region -- it shows art works from members of the center. Blurbage: "This year we accepted and displayed 382 pieces, including paintings, drawing, photography, fiber arts, stained glass and sculpture. There is also a separate category for young artists in grades K-12."

Sculpture parks
Maybe you'd like to explore some sculpture parks around the region.

Doll Festival
Saturday: The Desmond hosts a doll convention for collectors and enthusiasts, with exhibits, vendors, photo booths, and more. Saturday 10 am-4 pm -- free admission

Day trips
Explore some waterfalls, head for The Berkshires, The Catskills, or Columbia County. Or check out a state park.

Ice cream stand season
Seasonal ice cream stands around the Capital Region are open.

Farmers' markets
Farmers Markets are outdoors:
+ Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is outdoors on River Street. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is outdoors at High Rock Park. Saturday from 9 am-1 pm
+ The Delmar Farmers Market is at Bethlehem Central Middle School. Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is at its outdoor location around City Hall. Sunday from 10 am-2 pm.
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market is outdoors to the lawn at the Lincoln Baths. Sunday from 10 am-3 pm

Old Songs advertises on AOA, and AOA is a media sponsor of the YOL circus.

via Smokey Robinson's website