All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Apples, pumpkins, fall festivals, cider, cider donuts! All things fall are happening now in the Capital Region -- so grab a bushel basket and a friend and go gather them up.

After the jump, a whole bunch of stuff we thought you might enjoy.

Planning something you don't see on our list? Drop it in the comment section so we can all see.

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

1st Friday
It's the first 1st Friday in Albany of autumn. Shops and galleries will be open late with art, music and other surprises. A few things to see:
+ Upstate Artists Guild's exhibit features original art by some of the Capital Region's finest tattoo artists.
+ The Opalka Gallery at Sage will have a book signing and Interactive Stereography Demonstration by Melody Davis.
+ Free admission to the Albany Institute of History and Art where you can check out the Alexander Hamilton exhibit and thew new "Art of Seating" exhibit.
+ The Nisky Dixie Cats headline the Albany 1st Friday Swing Dance at 25 South Allen Street. 7pm -- $15, $10 for students and seniors

The Half Moon Market
Saturday-Sunday: The Half Moon Market returns to Albany's Washington Park Lake House this weekend. "Nearly 40 regional makers, artists and small companies offering handmade jewelry, ceramics, stationery, clothing, apothecary and more." There will also be local food and drink vendors. Saturday and Sunday 11 am-6 pm -- free admission

Saratoga International Flavorfeast
Saturday: The Saratoga International Flavorfest returns. More than 25 restaurants from around the city will be offering $1 samples of dishes inspired by cuisines around the world. (You can pick up at map at the Fingerpaint office on Broadway). Saturday 11 am-4 pm -- free admission

Chowderfest
Sunday: Chowderfest returns to River Street in Troy. More than 30 restaurants will be offering samples, and you can vote for your favorite. Tickets are $1 per 3 oz cup and can be purchased in Monument Square, Barker Park, or the Green Island Bridge parking lot from noon to 3:30 pm. Credit Cards will be accepted in Monument Square at one of the designated ticket lines. Sunday noon to 4 pm -- admission is free

Arts Fest Friday's Backstage at the Backstretch
Friday: The Saratoga Arts Fest Friday series heads to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame this month, with a look at the racing industry through the eyes of backstretch workers and racing professionals. Music, food, family activities, explore a mini horse stable, check out a starting gate and meet racing professionals. Friday 5-7:30pm -- free admission

Breathing Lights
This is the second weekend for Breathing Lights. The public art project is illuminating windows in hundreds of vacant homes in Albany, Schenectady and Troy (the slowly pulsing lights will be active from 6-10 pm each night).

Fall Festivals

Honest Weight Food Co-Op's Homegrown Happening
Saturday: Honest Weight's annual fall festival moves to the co-op's parking lot this weekend with more than 20 local vendors. They'll also have kids activities, cooking classes and more. Saturday noon-4 pm -- free admission

Goold Orchard Apple Festival & Craft Show
Saturday-Sunday: Goold Orchard's annual Apple Festival & Craft Show is this weekend. Craft vendors, artists, entertainment, apples, pumpkins and more. Saturday and Sunday 9 am-5 pm -- $10

Maple Ski Ridge Fall Festival
Saturday: Maple Ski Ridge is holding its annual fall festival this weekend with a tractor parade, craft show, hay bale throwing and pie eating contests anymore. Saturday 10 am-4 pm -- free admission

Autumn in Austerlitz Festival
Sunday: The annual Autumn in Austerlitz Festival is back for its 20th year. Music, family friendly activities, antiques, period costumes and food. Sunday 11 am-4 pm -- $7 / under 12 free

Schuylerville Fall Festival
Sunday: Schuylerville hosts its first fall festival. Music, food, more than 60 local businesses, family friendly activities, and more. Sunday 1-5pm -- free admission

Oktoberfest at Hunter Mountain
Saturday- Sunday: Hunter Mountains Oktoberfest continues this weekend with authentic German food and music. Saturday-Sunday -- 11 am to 6:15

Cider Sunday
Sunday: Samascott Orchards hosts Cider Sunday. Pick your own apples and drink Nine Pin cider and enjoy music and barbecue in the farm's orchard. Sunday noon-5 pm -- free admission

Stage

Disenchanted!
Friday-Sunday: A touring production of the musical Disenchanted! will be at Proctors. Blurbage:

Poisoned apples. Glass slippers. Who needs 'em?! Not Snow White and her posse of disenchanted princesses in the hilarious hit musical that's anything but Grimm. These royal renegades toss off their tiaras to bring you their hilariously subversive, not-for-the-kiddies musical. What you thought about princesses will never be the same!

Friday-Sunday various times -- $40

Outside Mullingar
Friday-Sunday: Capital Rep continues its production of John Patrick Shanley's Outside Mullingar. (It runs through October 16.) Tuesday-Sunday various times -- $20 and up

Confettifest #12
Friday-Sunday: Albany's Confetti Stage presents Confettifest, a slate of five new plays by local authors, at Albany's Masonic Temple. Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2pm -- $15 / $10 for students.

Peter and the Starcatcher
Saturday-Sunday: Hubbard Hall in Cambridge presents Peter and the Starcatcher, the beautifully-written backstory to Peter Pan. Saturday 7:30 pm, Sunday 2 pm -- $25 / $10 students

Time Stands Still
Friday-Sunday: Curtain Call Theater continues its run of Time Stands Still, Donald Margulies's play about a photojournalist who comes home from Iraq torn between her career and a quiet domestic life. Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm -- $24

Yours
Friday-Sunday: The Theater Institute at Sage presents Yours, a centennial celebration of Sage through "founders' letters, student poems and editorials from The Quill." Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2pm -- $15 / $12 students and seniors

Comedy

Jay Pharoah
Friday-Saturday: Former SNL cast member Jay Pharoah will be at the Funny Bone at Crossgates this weekend. Friday-Saturday various times -- $23

Druthers Rocks UPH!
Saturday: Druthers in Saratoga hosts Druthers Rocks UPH -- a beer and music festival to benefit Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga. Saturday 3:30-10 pm -- $20 and up

Music

Friday: Kaia Kater at The Linda
"Her music combines beautifully subtle old-time banjo with soft sensibilities, mixing elements of both Canadian and American historical traditions with a decidedly modern sound." 8 pm -- $20

Friday: Moon Hooch at The Hollow
"[E]xplosive horn-and-percussion trio." With: Honeycomb. 8 pm -- $12

Friday: Kimono Dragons at The Low Beat
Album release show. With: Henry's Rifle, Sun Natives. 8 pm

Saturday: The Gibson Brothers at Troy Music Hall
Contemporary bluegrass. 7:30 pm -- $25 and up

Saturday: Frank Lacy and 1032K at Sanctuary for Independent Media
Modern jazz. 7:30 pm -- $15

Saturday: Professor Louie & The Crowmatix at Caffe Lena at The Grove
"Enjoy a night of rompin', stompin' roots rock, sweet ballads, and roadhouse blues..." 7 pm -- $25

Saturday: Jimkata at The Hollow
Electro rock. With: Argonaut & Wasp. 8 pm -- $12

Saturday: American Zeppelin at The Upper Room
Led Zeppelin tribute. 7 pm -- $15 and up

Saturday: De Temps Antan at Old Songs
"[E]xploring and performing time-honored melodies from the stomping grounds of Quebec's musical past." 7:30 pm -- $25

Sunday: Graham Nash at Troy Music Hall
From Crosby, Stills, & Nash. 7:30 pm -- $36 and up

Film
Friday-Sunday: The Madison Theater hosts a Gene Wilder Festival with screenings of Blazing Sadles, Willie Wonka, Stir Crazy and The Producers will be screening all weekend long. Friday-Sunday, various times and prices.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Friday: The NYS Writers Institute's Classic Film Series is screening Before the Devil Knows You're Dead -- director Sidney Lumet's 2007 crime melodrama starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawk, Albert Finney, and Marisa Tomei. Friday 7:30 pm in Page Hall on UAlbany's downtown campus -- free

Drive-in
Drive in movies are still happening. Here's what you can see this weekend:

+ Jericho Drive In: The Magnificent Seven and The Shallows

+ Malta: Screen 1: Storks, Magnificent 7, and Sully | Screen 2: Blair Witch, Don't Breathe, and Lights Out

Boo!

Field of Horrors
Saturday: The Field of Horrors returns to Brunswick. There's a Trail of Terror Hayride, a paint ball gallery and other haunted attractions. Saturday 6:30-11 pm -- $25

Ghosts of Albany Walking Tour
Friday-Saturday: Ghosts of Albany is a historic walking tour of Albany with a paranormal twist. Tour meets at 40 Lodge Street, outside the Hilton Albany. Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm -- $20

Double M Haunted Hayride
Friday-Sunday: The Double M Haunted Hayrides in Ballston Spa are back for the fall. Attractions include the Haunted Hayride, a Museum of Horrors, and a Schadenfreude Circus. various times and prices

The Spirits of Rensselaer: RPI's Historic Ghost Tour
Friday:RPI's Spirits of Rensselaer Historic Ghost Tour leaves from the Rensselaer Union Patio on 15th Street. Friday at 7pm -- $5, free with RPI ID

Ghosts in the Yaddo Garden Tours
Friday: Take a ghostly tour of the Yaddo Gardens in Saratoga Springs. Friday from 5-6 pm -- $10 / under 12 free

Ghost Tours at Fort William Henry
Friday-Sunday: Fort William Henry in Lake George is holding ghost tours of the fort. Friday-Sunday at 7:30pm and 9pm -- $17 / $8 kids 15 and under

Fort Ticonderoga's corn maze
Saturday-Sunday: Fort Ticonderoga's annual corn maze is in the shape of a fort. Try to find your way out while looking for history. Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 5pm -- $20 / $9 kids ages 5-12 (4 and under free)

Curling
Saturday-Sunday: The Albany Curling Club is hosting an open house. See demonstrations and try your hand at curling. Saturday and Sunday 10 am-4 pm -- free admission

International Observe the Moon Night at miSci
Saturday: miSci and the Dudley Observatory host an International Observe the Moon Night event, with telescopes on the lawn look into the night sky and observe the moon. Saturday, 7pm to 9pm -- $10.50, $9 for seniors and $7.50 for children.

The Way We Were Car Show
Sunday: Ballston Spa's annual The Way We Were Car Show is this Sunday. Antique cars will line Front Street in the village. Sunday 9 am-4 pm -- free admission

Troy Flea
Sunday: Troy Flea returns to Riverfront Park with more than 25 vendors selling crafts, antiques and more. Sunday 9am to 2pm -- free admission

Hiking Steepletop
Saturday: Steepletop, the Austerlitz home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, hosts a tour of their gardens followed by a tour of the Millay's home. Saturday 10 am-noon -- $35 (the house tour is an extra $12) reservations preferred

Washington Park Trees & Traces
Saturday: Albany city forester Tom Pfeiffer and UAlbany professor John Pipkin team up to offer a tour of the trees and the history of Washington Park. Saturday from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

Historic Cooking Class
Saturday: What did people eat in the 1850s? And how was it made? The Underground Railroad History Project hosts a historic cooking class at which you can make and try foods from the late 19th century. Pre-registration is required. Saturday 3:30 pm -- $45 adults / $15 kids

Museums/galleries

Hudson Valley Ruins
Recently opened at the State Museum: Hudson Valley Ruins. It includes more than 80 photographs by Robert Yasinsac and Thomas Rinaldi of "forgotten historic sites and cultural treasures in the Hudson River Valley." It will be on display through the end of 2017.

Splendor, Myth, and Vision
This is the final weekend for Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes from the Prado,at The Clark. 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."

The Art of Seating
The Albany Institute of History and Art recently opened The Art of Seating: Two Hundred Years of American Design. Blurbage: "The chair is experienced not only as a functional item, but as sculptural in view--the chair as art. Each of the more than forty chairs in the exhibition was chosen for its beauty and historical context with important social, economic, political, and cultural influences." (On display through December 31.)

Alexander Hamilton
The Albany Institute of History and Art exhibit on the life of Alexander Hamilton and his time in Albany continues. 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.)

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. On display through October 16.

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

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.

Farmers' markets
This is a great time of year to visit the farmers markets in the Capital Region.
+ Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is in Riverfront Park. 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

Troy Music Hall, the Downtown Troy BID, Sage, Honest Weight, and The Madison advertise on AOA. And AOA is a media sponsor of the Half Moon Market and Troy Flea.