All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Hi there. Welcome to a midsummer weekend's list of stuff to do. Pick a few things that sound fun to you, or just read it under a tree with a glass of lemonade.

If you're doing something you don't see on our list, share it in the comment sections so everyone can see.

And whatever you're up to, remember your sunscreen, and have a fantastic weekend.

The Track
It's opening weekend for the 2017 season at the Saratoga Race Course. The Track will have a bunch of events and promotions this weekend, including the annual hat contest on Sunday.

Hats Off
Friday-Saturday: The annual opening weekend Hats Off music festival returns to downtown Saratoga Springs. A variety of performers will take over street corners and parking lots in and around Broadway. Friday and Saturday 7-11 pm -- free

Saratoga County Fair
Friday- Sunday: The Saratoga County Fair continues this weekend. Rides, games, animals, music, competitions and fair food. Friday-Sunday 10 am to 10 pm -- $12 / shorter than 52 inches is free / active military free with ID card / unlimited ride wristband is $20

Albany All Stars Roller derby
Saturday: The Albany All Stars Roller Derby returns to the Albany Capital Center where the Brawl Stars take on the Hudson Valley Horrors. Saturday 7 pm -- $10 advance / $12 at the door

Troy Summer Square
Friday-Saturday: The Troy Summer Square public art project continues this weekend. Friday is "The Borders Project: Shelter Me" and an open dialogue with artist Jackie Weaver about daily experiences with borders/boundaries. On Saturday there is a "Good Vibes + Dancing" party with DJ Moondog of the Chill Smith Collective.

Selected Shorts
Saturday: The stage version of the Selected Shorts reading series is coming to Skidmore College. "Actors Mia Dillon, Richard Masur, and James Naughton will perform dark, delightful and delicious tales by authors from the New York State Summer Writers Institute and beyond." Saturday at 7 pm -- $15 to $25

Read & Feed
Sunday: Basilica Hudson hosts a Read & Feed -- a celebration of food and literature, with a cooking master class, a conversation with master chefs, a reading of poet John Ashbery's Girls on the Run, a marketplace and community cafe, and a Crybabies podcast Weepy Booth where "presenters Sarah Thyre and Susan Orlean and special guests regale listeners with the things that make us teary." Sunday noon to 5 pm -- $15 / $10 students and seniors

Stage

Mamma Mia!
Friday-Sunday: It's second weekend of Mamma Mia! at Capital Rep. Friday-Sunday various times and prices (limited seating)

Ragtime
Friday-Saturday: Park Playhouse in Albany's Washington Park continues its production of the relevant and powerful musical Ragtime. Based on E.L. Doctorow's novel of the same name, Ragtime chronicles the lives of three different families from very different worlds that collide at the start of the 20th century. (The show continues Tuesdays-Saturdays through July 29.) Friday and Saturday 8 pm -- free bleacher seating is unreserved / reserved seats available for $24

Saratoga Shakespeare in the Park
Friday-Saturday: Saratoga Shakespeare Company opens a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Saratoga Springs Congress Park this weekend. (runs Tuesday to Saturday until July 29.) Friday-Saturday 6 pm -- free

WTF
The Williamstown Theatre Festival continues the productions of Where Storms Are Born and opens a production of The Clean House. Friday-Sunday various times - various prices

Fiddler on the Roof
Friday-Sunday: Not So Common Players presents a free production of the musical classic, Fiddler on the Roof, starring Matthew Coviello as Tevya, the dairyman with five daughters, who struggles with the change in age old traditions. Friday-Sunday 8 pm -- free

Buyer and Cellar
Friday-Sunday: Curtain Call Theater presents its new season with Buyer and Cellar, a one-man comedy about a struggling actor in LA working for a beloved megastar. Friday-Saturday 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday matinee 3 pm -- $24

Legally Blonde
Friday-Sunday: Consortium Actors presents the musical Legally Blonde, based on the film. Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm -- $15/$20

Saturday Night Fever
Friday-Saturday: The Mac Haydn continues its season with Saturday Night Fever, a disco musical based on the John Travolta movie, featuring music from the BeeGees. Friday-Sunday -- various times and prices

Children of a Lesser God
Saturday-Sunday: Berkshire Theater Festival continues its production of The Music Man. And Children of a Lesser God , starring Joshua Jackson, wraps this weekend. Friday-Sunday, various times and prices

Comedy

Jordan Rock
Friday-Sunday: Actor and comedian Jordan Rock (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Netflix show LOVE) headlines at The Funny Bone this weekend. Friday-Sunday various times -- $15

Bill Blank
Sunday: Comedian Bill Blank is also performing at The Funny Bone. Sunday 7 pm -- $12

Comedy Works All Stars
Friday-Saturday: The Comedy Works in Saratoga presents an all local all-star lineup. Friday-Saturday 7:30 and 9:30 pm -- 15 advance / $20 at the door / dinner package $40 advance / $45 at the door

A Tribute to Clue
Friday: MopCo presents TwoPenny Nerdesque productions, an evening of comedy with a burlesque showdown in tribute to the movie Clue. Friday 8 pm -- $10 adult/ $6 students and senior

MopCo Family Show
Saturday: MopCo hosts a comedy show for all ages. All acts are based off audience's suggestions. Saturday 8 pm -- $3 children and seniors, $9.50 adults

Late Night Improv Comedy
Sunday Saturday: "Cheaper than counseling, and a whole lot funnier." MopCo's late night improv show takes deepest darkest truths and turns them into comedic songs and stories. Saturday 10 pm -- $9.50

Music

Friday: Elvis Costello at Brewery Ommegang
With Amy Helm. 7 pm -- $55

Friday: The Aaron Lewis show at Upstate Concert Hall is sold out.

Friday: Front Business and Rob Boss at Albany Public Library
Start of the new Garage Band series of family-friendly concerts at the Washington Ave branch. 6 pm -- free

Saturday: Rod Stewart at SPAC
With Cyndi Lauper. 7:30 pm -- $30 and up

Saturday: Dru Hill at The Egg
Summer Soul Fest with Sisqo, V.I.C., Chubb Rock, Positive K. 8 pm -- $46 and up

Saturday: Booker T. Jones at MASS MoCA
B3 organ master. 8 pm -- $20 ahead / $26 day of

Saturday: Conor Oberst at Upstate Concert Hall
With Hop Along. 8 pm -- $26

Saturday: Reeves Gabrels & His Imaginary Friends at The Hangar
Guitar/songwriter. 8 pm -- $20

Saturday: Marshall Crenshaw & Dan Bern at Caffe Lena
Two singer/songwriters. 8 pm -- $27

Saturday: Summer Undercover at The Low Beat
A bunch of local acts performing covers. 6 pm

Sunday: Florida Georgia Line at SPAC
With Nelly, and Chris Lane. 7 pm -- $30.50 and up

Sunday: Septeto Santiaguero at Music Haven
With Radio Jarocho. Sunday 7 pm -- free admission

Film

Moana outdoors
Friday: The Movies Under the Starsseries in Albany starts up with a screening of Moana on the lawn at The College of Saint Rose. Friday 7:30 pm -- free

Paris Can Wait
Friday-Saturday: Proctors is screening Paris Can Wait, starring Diane Lane and Alec Baldwin, in the GE Theatre. Friday 7 pm, Saturday 4:45 pm and 7 pm -- $5

Salomé
Saturday: Proctors is screening a recorded version of the National Theater Live production of Salomé. Saturday 2 pm -- $15

Family Movie Sunday
Sunday: There is a free screening of ParaNorman at the GE Theater at Proctors, part of the Free Family Movie Series. Sunday 10:30 am and 1 pm -- free

Filmed by Bike
+ Saturday: The Madison is screening Filmed by Bike, a touring film festival that features short bike adventure stories about cyclists all over the world. Saturday 5-9 pm -- $10
+ It's also screening Jumanji, La La Land, Prometheus, and Bruce Lee's Enter The Dragon this weekend.

Drive-ins
Drive-in season continues:
+ Malta: Screen 1: Dunkirk and Baby Driver | Screen 2: Spiderman--Homecoming and War for the Planet of the Apes
+ Jericho:: War for the Planet of the Apes and Baby Driver
+ Hollywood: Despicable Me 3, and Spider-Man: Homecoming

Swimming
Public public pools and spray pads are open for the season.

Museums/Galleries

Arts Center of the Capital Region
Two new exhibits open at the Arts Center in Troy:
+ Fence Select, a new exhibition composed of 78 pieces selected from the Fence Salon by Michael Oatman
+ Art Quilt Immersion, a collection of quilts created by Barb Allen that are pictorial in nature
(Both on display until August 26).

The Clark
The Clark recently opened a new Picasso exhibit, Picasso: Encounters (on display through August 27). Also now on display is an exhibit of work by Helen Frankenthaler (through October 9).

Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region
The Albany Institute recently opened the Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region exhibit, an annual exhibit highlighting the work of the visual artists in the region. (On display through September 3.)

Hyde Collection
The Hyde Collection recently opened its new Feibes & Schmitt Gallery. It includes 40 works of modern art donated by Schenectady residents Werner Feibes and the late James Schmitt. The exhibit includes works by Josef Albers, Jean (Hans) Arp, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol LeWitt, Louise Nevelson, George Rickey, Bridget Riley, and Andy Warhol.

MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA recently opened its new B6 space, adding 106,000 square feet to the already massive museum. And Nick Cave's Until is still on display until the end of August.

Fields Sculpture Park
The Fields Sculpture Park at Omi in Ghent recently opened its new summer exhibition.

UAlbany Art Museum
Friday: The University Art Museum has Abstracts, "a large-scaled landscape exhibit where the paintings represent the relationship between communities and reality," and Gloves Off, "a video, photography and sculpture to create an kaleidoscopic view of contemporary culture." (On display until September 29)

State Museum
The People's Art: Selections from the Empire State Plaza Art Collection, continues at the New York State Museum with works by artists such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline, David Smith, and Alexander Calder. (On display through September 3.)

USS Slater
The USS Slater, the destroyer escort historical museum in Albany, is open for tours. Friday-Monday 10 am-4 pm -- $9 / $8 for seniors / $7 for kids 6 to 14 / free for kids 5 and under

Berkshire Botanical Garden
The Berkshire Botanical Gardens in Stockbridge are open for the season. every day from 9 am-4 pm -- $15 / $14 seniors / $12 students / kids under 12 are admitted free

Blueberries
Blueberry season is in full swing around the Capital Region -- here are a bunch of places where you ca pick your own.

Markets

Farmers' markets
+ Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is on River Street around Monument Square. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Delmar Farmers Market is Bethlehem Central Middle School (332 Kenwood Ave). Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is outdoors at High Rock Park Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is at its outdoor location around city hall. Sunday 10 am-2 pm
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market is on the lawn of the the Lincoln Baths. Sunday 10 am-3 pm.

Troy Makers Market
Saturday: Local craft vendors will display and sell wares at the Troy Makers Market in conjunction with the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market. Saturday 9 am to noon

Troy Flea
Sunday: Troy Flea returns to Riverfront Park with vendors selling vintage items and locally made crafts. Sunday 10 am-3 pm -- free admission

Day trips
Explore New Paltz, head for The Berkshires, the Catskills, or Columbia County.

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