All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Enter, summer, just in time for the pre holiday weekend. On the weekend agenda, swimming, baseball, free outdoor theater, water skiers, ice cream.... we'll just let you look at the list below.

Doing something that didn't make our list? Share it in the comment section so everyone can see.

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

Troy Night Out
Friday: Troy's monthly art walk -- Troy Night Out -- has a carnival theme this month. A few of the things happening:
+ Collar Works Gallery is hosting a +Mad Collar party -- bringing the outdoors indoors with food, an art yard sale, games, indoor mini golf and music. Come with a decorated detachable collar and enter the MAD Collar contest.
+The new PH Gallery + Studios hosts an Evening of Poetry + Performance to celebrate new directions and the indomitable feminine creative spirit. Friday, 5 pm - 9 pm
+The Swingin' Palms will play the Franklin Alley Social Club from 7-10 pm.
+There's a dance party in the garden at Lucas Confectionery & Wine Bar starting at 9 pm.

Food/drink

Red, White and Brew Festival
Friday: Proctors hosts the Red, White And Brew Festival with tastings from Capital Region craft breweries, food vendors, and music. Friday 5-10 pm -- $35 ahead / $40 at door / $15 for designated drivers

Eat Drink Saratoga
Saturday: Eat Drink Saratoga, a celebration of the Spa City's food and New York State craft beverages, will be held in the parking lot behind the old Saratogian building at 20 Lake Avenue. Fifteen restaurants, forty breweries, twenty distilleries, and ten wineries will be represented. Saturday 1-4 pm and 5-8 pm -- $60 general admission / $75 VIP admission / $30 designated driver (all tickets come with a $10 food voucher)

The Berkshires Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival
Saturday: Road trip to Great Barrington Fairground for The Berkshires Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival. Dozens of local, regional, and national craft breweries will be represented and about twenty food trucks will be serving up everything from barbecue to whoopee pies. Saturday noon-5 pm -- general admission $5 / kids under 12 and first responders and members of the military free

Jumpin' Jacks Fireworks and Water Ski Show
Friday: The U.S. Water Ski Show team performs behind Jumping' Jacks in Scotia and there's a fireworks display after the show. Friday 6-9 pm -- free

Baseball

ValleyCats
Thursday-Saturday: The ValleyCats return home for a three-game home stand at The Joe against Hudson Valley. Thursday-Saturday 7 pm -- $6.50 and up

Albany Dutchmen
Saturday: The Albany Dutchmen take on the Glens Fall Dragons at the Siena College ballpark. Saturday 5 pm -- $5 / $4 students and seniors / $3 youth

Swimming
Pool season is here. Pretty much all the local swimming pools and spray pads are open for the season now.

Strawberries
Local strawberry season has arrived in the Capital Region. Here are a bunch of farms around the area where you can pick your own.

Free summer concert series
Free summer concert season continues...

Alive at Five
Thursday: The Alive at Five series in Albany has B.B. King Blues Band featuring Tito Jackson, with The Age. The show has been moved from Jennings Landing to the Corning Preserve Boat Launch due to weather. Thursday 5 pm -- free admission

Freedom Park
The Freedom Park concert series in Scotia has Rusticator on Friday (8 pm) and The Legendary Characters on Sunday (7 pm).

Harbor Jam
Saturday: The Harbor Jam series at Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady has Journeyman, an Eric Clapton tribute. Saturday 6 pm -- free admission

Music

Friday: Ray LaMontagne + Neko Case at MASS MoCA
Outside at the museum. 7 pm -- $57 ahead / $66 day of

Friday: Imagine Dragons at SPAC
Alt rock. With: Grace Vanderwaal. 7 pm -- $35 and up

Friday: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at Tanglewood
Banjo star. 8 pm -- $20 and up

Friday: Al DiMeola at The Egg
"Al DiMeola performs as part of his Notorious-Opus Electric Tour 2018/2019 performing music from Elegant Gypsy to Opus and more." With: Brand X. 8 pm -- $39.50 and up

Friday: The Mallett Brothers Band at The Hollow
"With a style that can ranges from alt-country to Americana, country, jam and roots rock..." 9 pm -- $12

Friday: Opera Saratoga: "The Merry Widow" at SPAC
"One of the most popular operettas across the globe, The Merry Widow, returns to Opera Saratoga for the first time in thirty years." 7:30 pm -- $50 and up

Saturday: Live From Here Hosted by Chris Thile with Punch Brothers, Lake Street Dive, and duet partner Aoife O'Donovan at Tanglewood
Live broadcast of the public radio show formerly known as Prairie Home Companion. 5:45 pm -- $21 and up

Saturday: Steely Dan + The Doobie Brothers
1970s, man. 7:30 pm -- $29.50 and up

Saturday: Opera Saratoga: "Rocking Horse Winner" + "Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera" at SPAC
American premiere for the The Rocking Horse Winner. 7:30 pm -- $50 and up

Stage

WTF
The Williamstown Theatre Festival opens its new season this week with productions of The Closet (starring Matthew Broderick) and The Sound Inside (starring Mary-Louise Parker). Tuesday-Sunday various times - various prices

Damn Yankees at the Park Playhouse
Friday-Saturday: Park Playhouse opens its summer production of Damn Yankees this weekend at the Washington Park Lake House. Friday-Saturday 8 pm -- lawn seating free / reserved seating $14 and up

Cabaret
Friday-Sunday: The MacHaydn presents Kander and Ebb's Cabaret. Friday-Sunday -- various times and prices

The Last Five Years
Thursday-Sunday: The town of Colonie presents an open-air production of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years. The song cycle is the story of a relationship told forwards by one character and backward by the other. Thursday-Saturday 7:30 pm, Sunday 2 pm -- free admission

Barrington Stage
Friday-Sunday: Barrington Stage presents productions of The Royal Family of Broadway and Typhoid Mary. Friday-Sunday various times and prices

Church and State
Thursday-Saturday: The Berkshire Theater Festival presents Church and State, a "fast-paced and witty look at the life of a politician, whose belief system gets shaken to the core...three days before his bid for re-election." Thursday-Sunday -- SOLD OUT

Opera Saratoga
Friday_Sunday: Opera Saratoga has opened its summer season at the Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park. This weekend you can see productions of The Merry Widow and the American premier of Rocking Horse Winner and the world premiere of Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera. Friday-Sunday various times and prices

Bing Bamboo Room Burlesque
Saturday: The Bing Bamboo Room brings its annual U.S. OH show to Hudson Harbor Steak and Seafood. (18+) Saturday doors at 7 pm -- $20

Comedy

Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show
Saturday: Proctors hosts Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show featuring Matt Knudsen (Gangster Squad, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). Saturday 8 pm -- $15 ahead / $20 at door

Frank Del Pizzo & Jay Lafarr
Friday-Saturday: The Comedy Works presents Frank Del Pizzo & Jay Lafarr. Friday & Saturday various times and prices

Improv Ladies Night
Friday: The Mop & Bucket Theater hosts Improv Ladies Night evening of improv with some of the funniest women in the Capital Region. Songs, stories and games based on audience suggestions. Friday 8 pm -- $10 / $6 for students and seniors

Mick Treadwell's 10 North Jay
Saturday: MopCo presents Mick Treadwell's 10 North Jay, an improv variety show with games, songs, and scenes based entirely on audience suggestion. Sunday 5 pm -- $10 / $5 kids, students, and seniors

Film

Matilda
Sunday: Proctors is screening the 1996 film Matilda. Sunday 10:30 am and 1 pm -- free

Won't You Be My Neighbor
The Spectrum is screening Won't You Be My Neighbor, the new documentary about Mr. Rodgers.

RBG
The documentary RBG -- about Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- is also playing at The Spectrum.

Drive-ins
Here's what's playing at the drive-ins:
+ Malta: Screen 1: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Deadpool 2 / Screen 2: Incredibles 2, Avengers: Infinity War
+ Hollywood: Incredibles 2, TAG
+ Jericho Drive-in: Incredibles 2, Adrift

Museums/galleries/talks/walks

Andrea Barnet - Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall and Alice Waters Changed Our World
Saturday: Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga hosts author Andrea Barnet for a reading and talk about the subjects of her book Visionary women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall and Alice Waters changed the world. Saturday 7 pm - free admission

UAlbany Art Museum
The UAlbany art museum opens Younger Than Today: Photographs of Children (and sometimes their mothers)by Andy Warhol. It's part of a series of five Andy Warhol exhibitions being presented at five Hudson Valley College Museums this year. (On display through September 15.)

Also on display:
+Mickey Mouse has grown up a Cow:Videos by Kalup Linzy, Yoshie Sakai,
Frances Stark, and Abbey Williams
+Triple:Alex Bradley Cohen, Louis Fratino, and Tschabalala Self

Tang Museum
The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College opens Give a damn., a new exhibit with recent acquisitions "by artists who give a damn about the world around them and the people in it." (Runs through September 30).

The Fields Sculpture Park
The Art Omi Fields Sculpture Garden has its new summer exhibition on display. It's a fun exhibit of outdoor sculptures. It's free and open to the public.

The Clark
The Clark's two new summer exhibitions Women Artists in Paris, 1850-1900 and The Art of Iron: Objects from the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles, Rouen, Normandy have opened.

Saratoga Auto Museum
The Saratoga Auto Museum in Spa State Park has a cars of the 1950s exhibit.

State Education Building tours
Saturday: You can tour the beautiful NYS Education Building. Saturday 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm -- free (registration required)

USS Slater
The USS Slater is open for the season.

State Museum
The State Museum has a few new exhibits: "A small fort, which our people call Fort Orange" and Art of the Erie Canal.

Hyde Collection
The Hyde Collection has an exhibit of work by Rockwell Kent. (On display through July 22.)

Albany Institute
The Albany Institute of History and Art has mummies and Hudson River School paintings.

Hiking Steepletop
Sunday: A guided tour of the private areas of Steepletop, former home of Edna St.Vincent Millay. Bring Hiking attire. Sunday at 1 pm, $25 (following the hike, tours of the Millay's house will be offered at a discount price of $12)

New Neighbor Welcome Reception on Lark
Friday: The Lark Street neighborhood invites all neighbors, new and old, to a welcome reception at the new Lark Hall (the former EBA building). Friday 6-8 pm -- free

Candles and Mimosas
Sunday: The Candle Collective in Ballston Spa hosts a Candles and Mimosa candle making event. Sunday at 11:30 am -- $10 - $45, mimosas $5

Farmers markets
+ The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is outdoors on River Street. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Delmar Farmers Market is outside at Bethlehem Central Middle School. Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is outside at High Rock Park. Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+The Colonie Farmers' Market is at The Crossings. Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The South End Healthy Market opens its season at the Capital South Campus Center. Saturday 10 am-3 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is outdoors around City Hall. Sunday 10 am-2 pm
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market is outside at 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

MopCo, The Albany Institute of History and Art, The Spectrum, and the Downtown Troy BID advertise on AOA.

LaMontagne photo via Ray LaMontagne Facebook | Case photo via Neko Case Facebook