All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

"How does a ragtag volunteer army in need of a shower
Somehow defeat a global superpower?
How do we emerge victorious from the quagmire?
Leave the battlefield waving Betsy Ross' flag higher?"

After the jump, a three-day, Independence Day weekend's worth of stuff to do: fireworks, festivals, steamboats, concerts, ball games and more.

Planning something you don't see here? Share it with the rest of us in the comments.

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

Waterford Steamboat Meet
Saturday: Antique steamboats return to Waterford for the annual Waterford Steamboat Meet. The event includes vendors, music, and fireworks (at dusk). Saturday 10 am -- free admission

Phish
Friday-Sunday: Phish returns to SPAC. That means big crowds at the performance venue, and big crowds around Saratoga Springs this weekend. Friday-Sunday 7:30 pm -- $45 and up

Fireworks
Here's a list of places to see fireworks displays around the region this weekend.

4th of July
Some of the Independence Day celebrations in the Capital Region this weekend:

Saratoga All-American Celebration
Sunday-Monday: Spring, Putnam and Henry streets in Saratoga will be closed for the city's annual All-America 4th of July celebration. The event includes a parade, a party, historic tours, food, a bbq contest, an antique car show, music, carousel rides, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and fireworks. (The fireworks are Monday evening.) Sunday and Monday -- free admission

New York State's 4th of July Celebration at the Empire State Plaza
Monday: The Empire State Plaza will hold its annual 4th of July celebration with music, food, vendors and one of the largest fireworks displays in the area. Monday 3-10 pm -- free admission

Schuyler Mansion
Monday: The Schuyler Mansion in Albany celebrates Independence Day with 18th century games, performances, and other activities. Also: Free Stewart's ice cream. Monday 11 am to 4 pm -- free admission (tours of the mansion will be available at $3 per person)

Saratoga Battlefield
Monday: The Saratoga National Historic Park celebrates Independence day as 20 immigrants become citizens of the United States. Muskets, cannons, and fife and drum music. Monday 11 am to 2:30 pm -- free

Yol Circus
Friday-Saturday: Marquise Productions wraps up its local tour of YOL, a circus performancewith two days at Proctors. Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm -- $20 / $10 for children

1st Friday
Friday: The monthly 1st Friday art walk returns to Albany. Participating shops and galleries throughout the city will be open late with art, music and other fun stuff. The Albany Institute of History and Art is open free from 5pm to 8pm, Capital Wine has a wine tasting and the Graham Tichy Band headlines the 1st Friday Swing Dance at the Albany Elks Club.

Stage

Williamstown Theatre Festival
Friday-Sunday: The Williamstown Theatre Festival's 2016 season is underway with a production of the Tennessee William comedy The Rose Tattoo, starring Marisa Tomei, on the main stage (it runs through July 17). There's a production of The Cost of Living on the Nikos Stage (it runs through July 10). various times -- $40 and up

Chicago
Friday-Saturday: Park Playhouse in Albany's Washington Park opens its production of Kander and Ebb's Chicago. Friday and Saturday 8 pm -- lawn seats are free / chairs are $16-$24

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 2pm & 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm -- $24

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

The Witches of Venice
Saturday: Opera Saratoga performs Witches of Venice, a Phillip Glass opera about a royal boy who was born from a plant and sets out for an adventure to find a friend at the witch's palace. Saturday 7:30 pm - $50-$95

Burlesque
Sunday: The Bing Bamboo Room Burlesque company performs a 4th of July-themed U.S. OH! show at The Low Beat. (18+) Sunday 8 pm -- $15

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

Strawberries
Strawberry season will be wrapping up soon at many farms in the region. So this could be the last weekend for berry picking. Here are a bunch of places where you can pick your own.

Baseball
Monday: The Tri-City ValleyCats take on State College. The game will be followed by a fireworks display. Monday 6:30 pm - $5-10 ahead / $7-12 day of

Film

Outdoor movies at the airport hanger
Friday: MASS MoCA is sponsoring an outdoor screening of the Academy Award-winning film Around the World in 80 Days on the door of an airport hanger at the North Adams Airport. Bring your own chair. Food and drink for purchase on site. Friday 8:30 pm -- $14 per car / $7 adult / $3 kids under 12

Drive-in
Here's what you can see this weekend:
+ Hollywood: The BFG and Finding Dory
+ Jericho Drive In: Finding Dory and Central Intelligence
+ Malta: Screen 1: Finding Dory and The BFG | Screen 2: The Legend of Tarzan and Independence Day: Resurgence

Comedy

Guy Torry
Friday-Saturday: The Albany Funny Bone hosts actor/comedian Guy Torry. (21 & over) Friday-Sunday various times -- Friday and Saturday $15 / Sunday $10

Music

Friday: The Chris Cornell show at The Palace is sold out.

Friday: Boston Pops Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration at Tanglewood
Warren Haynes on guitar, Keith Lockwood conducting. 8 pm -- $25 and up

Friday: Olivia Quillio at Upbeat on the Roof
First show of the season for the music series at The Tang at Skidmore. 7 pm -- free

Friday: Built4BBQ Star Spangled Bonanza at The Low Beat and Pauly's Hotel
Charmboy, The Slaughterhouse Chorus, Henry's Rifle, Coupons, Rechorduroys,Angels on the Fourth, The Varlas. 7 pm

Friday: Ghost of Paul Revere at Caffe Lena at The Grove
Americana. 7 pm -- $18

Friday: Simi Stone at Helsinki Hudson
Pop-rock singer/songwriter. With: Burnell Pines. 9 pm -- $18

Saturday: Bob Dylan at Tanglewood
With: Mavis Staples. 7 pm -- $37.50 and up

Saturday: Ghost Train Orchestra at MASS MoCA
"Reimagining the wild jazz that came pouring out of speakeasies and cabarets of Chicago and New York City in the 1920s." 8 pm -- $12 ahead / $18 day of

Sunday: The James Taylor show at Tanglewood is sold out.
(But it looks like there are still tickets available for his July 4 show there.)

Sunday: The Tallest Man on Earth at The Egg
Folk. 7:30 pm -- $28 and up

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

A More Perfect Union
Saturday: The Tang at Skidmore College opens A More Perfect Union -- a new exhibit featuring Mel Ziegler's Multi-Year Project Flag Exchange. The installation includes 50 American flags collected by Ziegler, who traveled the country trading new flags for tattered ones flying at homes and public locations. (Runs through January 1.) opens Saturday -- free admission (suggested donations of $2 - $5)

Alexander Hamilton
The Albany Institute of History and Art recently opened d a new exhibit on the life of 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.) The Albany Institute is closed on July 4.

Baseball Hall of Fame
Summer is a great time to visit Cooperstown and check out the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In addition to its regular exhibits, there's currently installation about Negro League third baseman Oliver Marcelle.

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

Splendor, Myth, and Vision
Now on display at The Clark: Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes from the Prado. 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.
The NYS Musem is closed on July 4.

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

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

NYS OGS and Live Nation advertise on AOA, and AOA is a media sponsor of the YOL circus.