Stuff to do this weekend

Times Union Center exterior night

The TU Center will be busy this weekend with the MAAC basketball tournament in town, and the MAAC-n-Cheese Fest at the Albany Capital Center Friday.

Update: Friday's snow is prompting event cancellations, so check before heading out to anything.

Step right up and get your winter weekend. Only three left, so act now.

After the jump, we've pulled together a list of things that might interest you this weekend.

Planning something that didn't make our list? Drop it in the comments so we can all see.

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

Schenectady Restaurant Week 2018 in-post ad

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Schenectady Restaurant Week
Friday-Sunday: Schenectady restaurant week winds down this weekend. Twenty-six participating restaurants are offering prix fixe meals for $25. As with any restaurant week, reservations are a good idea.

New York Craft Brewers Festival
Saturday: The New York Craft Brewers Festival returns to the Desmond in Colonie. "The New York Craft Brewers Festival brings together Over 60 New York Breweries (and brewers) from every region of the state featuring up to 150+ hard to find and award winning beers. This is a great opportunity to meet the NYS brewers that make the beer, and the owners of the local food scene in the Capital District that are such an important part of the community." Saturday 4-8 pm -- $40 ahead ($50 at door) / VIP tickets sold out / $15 designated drivers

College basketball

UAlbany
Saturday: The UAlbany men's team takes on Stony Brook at SEFCU Arena in the first round of the America East tournament. (If the Great Danes win, the next game is TBA.) Saturday 7 pm -- $15 and up.

MAAC tournament
Thursday-Monday: The MAAC -- Siena's conference -- will be at the TU Center for its men's and women's tournaments. Friday-Monday various times -- all-session passes $97 and up

MAAC-n-Cheese
Friday: Along with the tournament, the MAAC-n-Cheese Fest (get it) event returns to the Albany Capital Center. "Fans will have the opportunity to sample gourmet mac-n-cheese dishes from numerous Albany-area restaurants; as well as many varietals of craft beer from New York breweries." Friday 4-6:30 pm -- $8 for five mac sample tickets / $5 for three beer sample tickets

Hannaford Kidz Expo
Saturday: The Empire State Plaza hosts the annual Hannaford Kidz Expo, a full day of family-friendly entertainment and activities. Saturday 10 am-5 pm -- free admission

Saratoga Home and Lifestyle Show
Friday-Sunday: The Saratoga Home and Lifestyle Show returns to the Saratoga Springs City Center."120 regional exhibitors showcasing a wide range of home improvement services, décor and furnishings, energy-saving products, outdoor living and landscaping, family recreation, and lifestyle products and services." The second floor includes a fine arts and crafts festival. Friday 5-9 pm, Saturday 9 am-7 pm, Sunday 10 am-4 pm -- free admission

Ice skating
We're starting to run out of winter, so there's not a lot of days left at some of the ice skating spots around the Capital Region.

Stage

The Importance of Being Earnest
Friday-Sunday: Curtain Call Theater opens a new production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Friday and Saturday 8 pm, Sunday 3 pm -- $25

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Friday-Sunday: Park Playhouse presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Cohoes Music Hall. Friday 8 pm, Saturday 2 pm & 8 pm, Sunday 2 pm --$25 / $15 for kids 12 and under

Step & Stroll competition
Saturday: EMPAC hosts Hold Your Grit, a step/stroll competition organized by the Untouchable Omicron Upsilon Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Black Students' Alliance, and The National Society of Black Engineers. "This is an opportunity for step and stroll teams to shed light on the Black lives Matter movement in light of Black History Month, and to present different aspects of culture through their performances." Saturday 7 pm -- $20

Comedy

Jimmy Walker
Friday-Sunday: Jimmy Walker -- JJ from the popular '70s comedy Good Times -- brings his stand-up act to the Albany Funny Bone this weekend. Friday-Sunday, various times and prices

Mike Finoia & Harris Stanton
Friday-Saturday: The Comedy Works in Saratoga presents a double bill this weekend, with comedians Mike Finoia and Harris Stanton.

Crime Alley
Friday:The MopCo Theater hosts Crime Alley, a Capitol Region sketch comedy troupe whose monthly shows are regularly selling out. Friday 8 pm -- $10 / $6 for students and seniors

TheaterSports
Saturday: The Mop & Bucket Company continues its run of TheaterSports at the MopCo Improv Theater. Teams of improvisors compete by creating games, stories and songs based on audience suggestion. Saturday 8 pm -- $10 / $6 for students and seniors

Film

Regal Best Picture Film Festival
Regal Cinemas has lined up another "Best Picture Film Festival" -- it will be screening all nine films nominated for the 2018 best picture Oscar leading up to the ceremony on Sunday. And it's selling a pass to see them all for just $35.

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Friday: Colonie Central High School will host a screening of Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. Lamarr was a silver screen goddess in the 1930s and 1940s -- and one of the minds behind technology that laid the ground work for modern mobile phones. Friday 6:30 pm -- $5

Dr. Strangelove
Cancelled because of weather Friday: The NYS Writers Institute classic film series continues with a screening of Peter Sellers' political satire Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Friday 7:30 pm at Page Hall on the UAlbany Downtown Campus -- free

Music

Friday-Saturday: Rain at Proctors
"RAIN -- A Tribute To The Beatles celebrates the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band! For the first time ever, Rain will bring the historic album to life in its entirety for this psychedelic multimedia spectacular in addition to recreating all your early favorites!" Friday 8 pm, Saturday 2 pm and 8 pm -- $20 and up

Friday: Wylcef Jean at Putnam Place
With: Jazzy Amra, Culture crew, Beards, Victory Soul Orchestra, Decora, DJ Trumastr. 9 pm -- $40 ahead / $48 day of

Friday: Future Generations at The Low Beat
Indie pop. With: The Undercover Dream Lovers, Imaginary Friends. 7:30 pm -- $10

Friday: Moondance at The Linda
"The Ultimate Van Morrison Tribute Concert." 8 pm -- $20

Friday: Montgomery Gentry at Upstate Concert Hall
Country. With: The Kyle Bourgault Band. 8 pm -- $25 ahead / $28 day of

Friday: The Duke Robillard Band at The Upper Room
Rock and blues. 8 pm -- $28

Friday: Andrea Beaton & Troy MacGillivray at Old Songs
Fiddlers. 7:30 pm -- $23

Friday: Shannon McNally at Helsinki Hudson
Americana. 9 pm -- $15

Saturday: Del & Dawg at The Egg
Del McCoury & David Grisman. 8 pm -- $41.25 and up

Saturday: Cedar Green + Riviera at The Low Beat
Pop rock + pop punk. With: American Runaways, Parallel. 7 pm

Saturday: Lord Electro at The Hollow
Jam. 8 pm -- $12

Sunday: West Point Concert Band at The Egg
"The concert pays homage to the way Sousa's own band played concerts, highlighting masterworks, soloists, and a multitude of marches for military band." 2 pm -- free

Sunday: Albany Pro Musica: Broadway! at Troy Music Hall
"Back by popular demand, Albany Pro Musica and Pro Musica Pops present tour de force performances of some all-time favorite Broadway tunes." 3 pm -- $25 and $35

Sunday: Insane Clown Posse x Attila
With: Sylar, Cage, Lil Toenail, Lyte & Ouija. 6:30 pm -- $25 ahead / $28 day of

Sunday: Jocelyn and Chris Arndt at Caffe Lena
Blues rock. 7 pm -- $18

Sunday: Pierre-Laurent Aimard at Union College
Classical pianist. 3 pm -- $30

Sunday: Young Culture at Lucky Strike Jupiter Hall
Pop punk. With: View Points. 8 pm -- $10

Museums/galleries/talks

Butterflies
miSci's butterfly exhibit is back. "Watch butterflies at every stage of life - from egg to the chrysalis chamber to adulthood." Saturday 9 am-5 pm, Sunday noon-5 pm -- free with museum admission

State Museum
The State Museum also continues its Votes for Women, about the women's suffrage movement. And the first phase of its new Enterprising Waters: New York's Erie Canal exhibit is open.

The Tang
The Tang Museum has Along the Border, an exhibit featuring instruments made from discarded objects found along the 2000-mile national divide between Mexico and the United States. "These works made from discarded cans, animal bones, shoes, bicycle wheels, leather, children's toys, and more, reveal the human impact of the evolving economic, social, and political relationships between the two nations over the past several years." On view through April 22

University Art Museum
The University Art Museum at UAlbany has two recently-opened exhibits:
+ This Place is a photography exhibit that "explores the rifts and paradoxes of the highly contested spaces of Israel and the West Bank."
+ Hank Willis Thomas: Black Righteous Space is a "sound reactive video installation exploring issues of identity, race, and popular culture."

Albany Institute
Well-Dressed, an exhibit of high fashion from the 19th century, continues at the Albany Institute of History and Art, along with an exhibit about the the anti-suffrage movement in Albany. Also almost its entire collection of Hudson River School works is on display.

On Sunday, Stephen J. Tyson will host a lecture titled "A Fruitful Fellowship", which will look at the Albany Institute of History and Art's landmark 1945 exhibition The Negro Artist Comes of Age. Sunday 2 pm -- free with museum admission

The Clark
The Clark now has Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection. (On display through April 22.) And Sunday is a first-Sunday-free day.

Hyde Collection
The Hyde Collection has Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau. And the new Feibes & Schmitt Gallery is also open.

MASS MoCA
There are a bunch of exhibits on display that make use of its huge gallery expansion.

Wheels at Work
The Saratoga Auto Museum hosts a Wheels at Work exhibit featuring tractors, tow trucks, taxi cabs and other vehicles that went to work.

The Art of Childhood
The Rensselaer County Historical Society hosts The Art of Childhood, an exhibit of selected images of children from babies and toddlers to teenagers on the edge of adulthood selected from their collection.

History of urban development in Schenectady
The Schenectady County Historical Society recently opened a new exhibit called Changing Downtown: The Rise, the Raze, and the Revitalization of Schenectady.
Brewing in Beverwyck and Early Albany
Sunday: Educator, local historian, and home brewer Richard Muggeo will presents a program at the New Scotland Museum on how beer was brewed in Beverwyck. Sunday 2 pm -- free

Classes

Chocolate Class
Saturday: The Honest Weight class about chocolate with Oliver from Primo Botanica is full.

Fusing glass
Saturday: The Tech Valley Center of Gravity hosts the first of a two-session class on fusing glass in a kiln. Attendees will make four pieces of jewelry. Saturday 6:30-9:30 pm, Monday 6:30-8:30 pm -- $115 / $100 for members (price includes all materials)

Farmers' markets
+ The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is indoors at the atrium. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is indoors at the Lincoln Bathhouse Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is indoors at Proctors. Sunday 10 am-2 pm
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market is inside the Lincoln Baths. Sunday 10 am-2 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

The Albany Institute, the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation, Troy Music Hall, and the Mop & Bucket Company advertise on AOA. And AOA is a sponsor of the ESP ice rink.

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Genericon: A weekend-long convention run by the students of RPI featuring a wide variety of attractions that run the gamut of geeky hobbies including science fiction, gaming of all forms, and anime. http://genericon.org/

UAlbany Men’s Basketball America East Quarterfinals Saturday 7pm SEFCU

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