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518 Weekender: Albany Greek Fest, Painting the Night, Sing in the Streets

May 14, 2026

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Hey 518 readers, this week we’ve got a few fun nighttime events—Painting the Night in downtown Albany, and the Nightmare Market and Art Night in Schenectady. The Albany Greek Festival, Sing in the Streets and the ginormous Tap NY Craft Brew Festival round out our weekend picks!

It’s starting to feel like summer with all of these outdoor festivals. Get out there and enjoy the weekend!

🎟️ Btw, we’re now up to 30 guests for the next 518 Dinner Club. Save your seat now! Here’s how the dinner club works.

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

⭐️ = Top 5 Staff Picks

⭐️ 🇬🇷 The Albany Greek Festival at St. Sophia is always a delicious affair. Homemade Greek food is the biggest draw for attendees across the Capital Region. Expect favorites like gyros, souvlaki, spanakopita, moussaka, and all kinds of honey-soaked baked goods. Fri-Sun. Presale tix are $4 through Thursday. Regular admission is $5 per day. Get tix here.

⭐️🎨 Albany boasts some of the best murals in the CR. Painting the Night at Quackenbush Square celebrates a decade of game-changing downtown murals. Watch live mural painting, roaming circus acts, and fire dancers. Albany Center Gallery and Albany Barn will be hosting popups, and DJ King Bully will be laying down the beats. Sat, 5-9p, free.

⭐️💀 At exactly the same time & day, The Nightmare Market, the Capital Region’s best night market, takes over Jay Street in Schenectady. Expect 70+ alternative vendors, oddities, food trucks, themed beverages, tarot readers, live music and more. And yes, despite its name, it’s all family friendly. Sat, 5-9p, free.

⭐️🎸Sing in the Streets returns to downtown Saratoga Springs for its 5th year (not 66th, as we noted in Tuesday’s newsletter—that’s how long the iconic Caffè Lena has been around). Whichever year it is, be prepared for a musical extravaganza with 23 acts across 10 stages, spanning folk, blues, jazz, country, and soul. Sun, 12-5p, rain or shine, free.

⭐️🍺 The Tap New York Craft Brew Festival moves to a new location this year, to the Blackthorne Resort in East Durham. With more than 100,000 people attending, the two-day event is one of the largest craft brew festivals in the country. Friday kicks off with a brew pairing dinner; Sat is “bacon, brews & BBQ” and Sunday focuses on brunch. Fri-Sun, $44-$213. Get tix here.

Honorable mentions this week…

⭐️ 📚️ Americana/ble: The Big Group Show continues with Belonging to the Air with author Avery Irons, who will read from her new novel at Kiddie Pool. Doors open at 12 pm for public viewing of the “Americana/ble” exhibition. Also, you’ll get to meet the folks behind this newsletter!

⭐️🏃‍♂️ 518 Day is a full-day celebration of the Capital Region taking place in downtown Albany, featuring a 5.18K race and Melba Madness (a tasting of Albany’s signature raspberry sauce at 14 hotspots). Both events are ticketed. Even if you’re not racing, you can take in the bands for free at the Clinton Market Collective—Caity Gallagher, Ky McClinton Band, Girl Blue & Super 400 are on the bill. Sat, 8:30a-4p.

👀 Keep reading to see more notable events in “What’s Happening.”

A word from our sponsor

Spontaneous Broadway: The All-Improvised Musical Comedy Sensation at Mopco!

Read our coverage of the show and get tickets for this limited run (May 16, May 30, and June 6) before they sell out!

🦜 Visit our feathered friends at Rensselaer Bird Center

Did you know that parrots are the most given-up pet in America, due to their long lifespans, complex diets, and constant need for intellectual stimulation and attention?

For decades, the Rensselaer Bird Center has been a cornerstone of the Capital Region parrot community, selling hand-tamed exotic birds. They also accept rescue parrots, which they rehome to forever families.

Dia Krylova, an undergrad at Cornell University who's from Albany (she went to Emma Willard) and studying to become an avian veterinarian, reached out to us to say that the business has been struggling since the owner was diagnosed with cancer.

“I am eternally grateful for this establishment. I have seen so many birds be saved from cruelty and neglect,” Dia says. “Without this store, I would have never volunteered at a place with parrots, never fallen in love with these beautiful creatures, and decided to dedicate my future to their medicine and care.”

Be sure to visit the RBC at 63 Washington St, Rensselaer, and follow them on Instagram.

THURSDAY

If you haven’t been to Gloversville lately, the Downtown Art Walk (2-6p) is a perfect excuse to experience its small-town charm and industrial past. As its name suggests, Gloversville was once a glove-making powerhouse.

🚲️ The Albany Social Club meets tonight at the Washington Park Playhouse for a rainy day ride—the best kind!

FRIDAY

🖼️ Get to Opalka Gallery for PechaKucha Night. What’s a PechaKucha? Short talks by interesting people.

🤣 Nate Bargatze brings his hugely popular deadpan humor to the MVP Arena.

🎬️ The first Movie Under the Stars of the season screens “Zootopia 2” in Washington Park.

🎨 Art Night Schenectady is back. Highlights: The 2nd annual Trash Parade and The Mohawk Valley Art Shoppe’s grand reopening and art exhibition benefiting Kitten Angels.

🇬🇳 Guinean singer and songwriter Natu Camara brings her West African rock and soul to The Sanctuary for Independent Media.

🎸 Pint Sized by Dive in Saratoga is hosting a SPAC Happy Hour featuring drink specials, ticket giveaways, and a sneak peak at the upcoming season.

SATURDAY

🎭️ Mopco has brought back Spontaneous Broadway, a fully improvised musical conceived and performed right in front of you in an intimate theater setting. Get your tix before they sell out!

🖼️ The 2026 Spring Art in the Park brings together over 70 artists in Saratoga’s Congress Park.

🌷 The annual Tulip Dig in Washington Park is your chance to bring home some of the bulbs that are the star of the Tulip Fest.

🌿 The Sanctuary for Independent Media invites you to its Plant Swap 2026, in its Collar City Garden. Also happening Saturday, the annual Thacher Native Plant Sale organized by Wild Ones—if you go, be sure to get there at 10 am sharp (trust us on this).

SUNDAY

🏳️‍🌈 A Big Gay Market heads to Glens Falls.

🍺 Brewing It Forward at Wolf Hollow Brewing Co. features live music, raffles, and family fun, all in support of cancer research.

🐈️ 🧘 Get your yoga and yearning for feline cuddles at Mohawk Hudson Humane Society’s Yoga with Kittens!

🦎 The Capital District Reptile Expo slithers into the Albany Capital Center.

🧀 🐝 Join Helderberg Meadworks and The Cheese Traveler for a mead & cheese pairing!

🍏 Nine Pin hosts the 2nd annual Wild Cider Cup, benefiting local conservancies. Remember that 518 subscribers (that’s you!) always get 10% off all cider pours at Nine Pin. Just mention “The 518 Crew.”

MONDAY

🍸️ Reports of Larkin Hi-Fi closing have been exaggerated apparently. Get there for Martini Mondays.

🔭 Observatory Night at Moreau Lake State Park—volunteer astronomers will guide you to see the stars.

🎸 Desperate Annie’s in Saratoga invites you to Super Dark Mondays.

UPCOMING

Our music listings are now published separately on The 518 website. Click here.

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