All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Here it is. This is what we dream about in February -- a warm, lazy, sunny, mid-summer weekend with a list of fun things to do -- or not do -- as you see fit.

After the jump, our list of this weekend's goings-on that we thought might interest you. As always, if we're missing something you're doing, drop it in the comments.

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

Troy Pig Out 2016
Saturday: The 9th annual Troy Pig Out returns to Riverfront Park. A barbecue competition, hot dog eating contest, a mechanical bull, and fireworks. Saturday 10 am-9 pm -- free admission / People's Choice Rib Competition rib tickets are $2 (limit of 10 per person), tickets go on sale and 3 pm and must be redeemed by 5 pm

Schenectady County SummerNight
Friday: The annual Schenectady County SummerNight takes place throughout Downtown Schenectady both indoors and outdoors with entertainment, vendors, and fireworks. Music line-up headlined by Gin Blossoms. Friday 5-10 pm -- free admission

Art on Lark
Saturday: This Saturday is the rain date for the Art on Lark festival that was postponed because of weather in June. The annual Lark Street summer festival includes more than 50 local artists and crafters, plus music and other performances. Saturday 11 am to 6 pm -- free admission

The Chip Festival
Saturday: Saratoga Springs hosts its first Chip Festival -- celebrating the city's (arguable) position as the birthplace of the potato chip. Sample all things chip -- potato, tortilla, salsas, dips and more from across the nation at the Saratoga Springs City Center. Family fun and a potato chip history booth. Saturday 10 am-6 pm -- $5 adults / free 12 and under

Indian Ladder Farms Summer Festival
Sunday: Indian Ladder Farms celebrates its 100th anniversary and the grand opening of its cidery and brewery with a Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy Summer Fest and Hike-a-thon. Fifty performers, food vendors, exhibitors, hayrides, baby animals, and more. The Mohawk-Hudson Land Conservancy will be holding a hike-a-thon at four locations as part of the celebration. Sunday noon to 5 pm -- free admission

Baseball

ValleyCats
Friday-Sunday: The Tri-City ValleyCats face the Connecticut Tigers at The Joe. Friday's game will have a "Down to the Farm" them night. Saturday is "Star Wars" night, with post game fireworks. On Sunday the ValleyCats play the Batavia MuckDogs, and they'll celebrate their two-millionth fan. Friday and Saturday 7:05 pm, Sunday 5 pm -- $5-10 ahead/ $7-12 day of

Dutchmen
Saturday: The Albany Dutchmen will play the Mohawk DiamondDawgs at the 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

Film

New York International Film Festival
Friday: It's the last day of the New York International Film Festival at the Madison Theatre in Albany. Prizes, raffles and free food will also be included. Friday 6-11 pm -- $10 for ten short films a day

Movies Under The Stars: Inside Out
Friday: A group of orgs and neighborhood associations are showing Inside Out outdoors on the Sage Albany campus lawn with live music prior to the screening. Friday 7:30 pm -- free admission

The Triplets of Belleville Cine-concert
Saturday: MASS MoCA is screening the animated feature The Triplets of Belleville with the score performed live by its composer Benoît Charest and his 9-piece Le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville band, accompanied by Foley sound effects. Saturday 8:30 pm -- $20 ahead / $26 day of / $16 students / $12 kids / under 5 free

One Man, Two Guvnors
Sunday: The Spectrum will be showing a 2011 recording of the Richard Bean comedic play spun off of the Italian classic The Servant of Two Masters. It also features the Tony Award-winning performance of James Corden. Sunday 11 am -- $15

Drive-in
Here's what you can see this weekend:
+ Hollywood: The Secret Life of Pets and BFG
+ Jericho Drive In: The Secret Life of Pets and Ghostbusters
+ Malta: Screen 1: The Secret Life of Pets and The Legend of Tarzan | Screen 2: Ghostbusters and The Shallows

Stage

A Night with Janis Joplin
Friday-Sunday: Capital Rep continues its production of A Night with Janis Joplin. Blurbage: "A Night with Janis Joplin is a musical journey celebrating Janis and her biggest musical influences - trailblazers like Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Odetta, Nina Simone and Bessie Smith - who inspired one of Rock 'n' Roll's greatest legends." Tuesday-Sunday various times - $25 and up

Williamstown Theatre Festival
Friday-Sunday: The Williamstown Theatre Festival's season continues with a production of the Tennessee William comedy The Rose Tattoo, starring Marisa Tomei, on the main stage (it ends this weekend). And The Chinese Room recently opened on the Nikos Stage (it runs through July 23). various times -- $40 and up

Park Playhouse
Friday-Saturday: The Park Playhouse in Albany's Washington Park continues its production of Chicago. (It runs through July 30). Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm -- free on the lawn / reserve tickets $16 and up

Mac-Haydn
Friday-Sunday: The Mac-Haydn Theatre continues its production of Chicago. Friday-Sunday -- various times and prices

Damn Yankees
Friday-Sunday: The Not So Common Players presents Damn Yankees, the classic musical about a coach who sells his soul to get "one long ball hitter" for his team. Friday-Saturday 8 pm -- free admission

Brighton Beach Memoirs
Friday-Saturday: It's closing weekend for the Curtain Call Theatre production of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs. Friday-Saturday 8pm -- $24

Opera Saratoga
Opera Saratoga's season continues at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park.
+ Friday is the last day for the production of the Mozart classic The Marriage of Figaro.
+ Saturday is the last day for Daniel Catán's The Postman
+ And Sunday is the last day for The Witches of Venice, a Philip Glass opera about a royal boy who was born from a plant and sets out for an adventure to find a friend at a witch's palace.

Friday-Sunday various times - $50-$95

Comedy

Sherry Davey
Friday-Saturday: Comedy Central and NickMom Night Out star Sherry Davey will be performing at The Comedy Works in Saratoga Springs. Friday 8 pm / Saturday 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm -- $15 advance / $20 at the door / dinner package $40 advance / $45 at the door

Rich Vos
Friday-Sunday: Last Comic Standing season one finalist Rich Vos will be at the Funny Bone in Crossgates. (21 and over.) Friday-Sunday various times -- $15

Music

Friday-Saturday Dave Matthews Band at SPAC
Playing a show each night. 7 pm - $40.50 and up

Friday: Gin Blossoms at Schenectady County Summer Night
On State Street in downtown Schenectady. With: Stockade Kids, Moriah Formica, Kristina Lachaga, Talia Denis. 5 pm -- free

Friday: Big Sam's Funky Nation at Parish Public House
"[H]igh-energy music that mixes funk, rock & roll, hip-hop, and jazz." 8 pm -- $15 ahead / $20 at door

Friday: Harpeth Rising at Caffe Lena at The Grove at Neumann
Americana. 7 pm -- $20

Friday: The Skivvies at Helsinki Hudson
"[A]n adult-rated musical comedy act performing stripped-down mashups of pop songs and show tunes almost in the raw." A benefit for Animalkind. 8 pm -- $20

Friday: Decoda: Skidmore Chamber Music Institute at Upbeat on the Roof
"The ensemble's summer intensive at Skidmore College, now in its third year, offers young musicians multiple performance opportunities and occasions for meaningful community engagement." 7 pm -- free

Saturday: Okkervil River at Helsinki Hudson
Alt-country. With: Bird of Youth. 9 pm -- $18 ahead / $22 day of

Saturday: Boston Symphony Orchestra and Renée Fleming at Tanglewood
Performing works by Strauss and Tchaikovsky. 8 pm -- $22 and up

Saturday: Summer UnderCover at The Low Beat and Pauly's Hotel
Local acts covering songs by all sorts of bands. 6 pm -- $10

Sunday: Boston Symphony Orchestra with Yuja Wang at Tanglewood
Star pianist to join the BSO for works by Ravel and Gershwin. 2:30 pm - $20 and up

Sunday: Aoife O'Donovan at Helsinki Hudson
Folk. With: Haas Kowert Tice. 7 pm -- $20 ahead / $25 day of

Sunday: Jerry Douglas presents The Earls of Leicester at Music Haven
Bluegrass. With: Jim Gaudet & the Railroad Boys. 7 pm -- free

Swimming
Capital Region community swimming pools and beaches are open. Here's a list of local pools, beaches and spray pads, complete with dates, pricing and other important details.

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

A More Perfect Union
The Tang presents: 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.) free admission (suggested donations of $2 - $5)

Circus
The Arkell Museum has an exhibit of circus-themed art and vintage circus marketing materials.

Alexander Hamilton
The Albany Institute of History and Art recently opened 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.)

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 an 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.

This is the last weekend for 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.

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.

Community mural day
Saturday: The community mural project at 255 Orange Street in Albany has a community tiling day in which everyone is invited to participate and help. Saturday noon-4 pm

Blueberries
Blueberry season has arrived in the Capital Region -- here are a bunch of places you can pick your own.

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

CCA Movies Under the Stars, Downtown Troy BID, The Tang, and Live Nation advertise on AOA.

photo: Danny Clinch