518 Weekender: Upstate Art Weekend, Moon Bloom Fest, Adirondack Wine & Food Fest, Pride Night Out & more!

Hey 518 readers, it’s a weekend of fabulous festivals, from Upstate Art Weekend to the Adirondack Wine & Food Fest to the Moon Bloom Festival.

Hard decisions are in order since you can’t possibly make it to all of these fun fests. We’re partial to all things free, so you’ll likely find us at one of the UAW shows, making like we belong among the fashionable art crowd 😎 

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

⭐️ = Top 5 Staff Picks

⭐️ 🖼️ Upstate Art Weekend is the art world’s major art pollination event in the Hudson Valley. In our opinion, it’s best engaged as a weekend-long stroll, rather than a marathon. We’ve teased out some faves nearby—and suggest that you prepare to wander. Need a bit more structure? Build your own itinerary using the handy dandy UAW itinerary tool.

• Begin at Upstate Art Weekend’s HQ in Kingston. This is ground zero for the UAW magic with a 30-person show of work in a bright space full of folks in the know. Doors stay open until 8 pm on Friday. Be sure to pick up a UAW map for when your phone loses signal in the middle of nowhere.

• Louche at the Catskill Octagon House is a Hudson Valley real real pick, featuring artists Sita Gómez, Baker Overstreet, and Claudia Renfro’s cadre of delightfully rich, divergent figurative forms that look towards alternative visions of gender. All presented in a historic 8-sided house built to commune with the spirits. Not to be missed.

• Art Omi Outdoor Summer Opening with Nayland Blake’s “Haunt,” accompanied by performances, activations, and workshops across Art Omi’s park and gallery. Land in Hudson, take the trolley, then traipse from field to fancy with the swanky-cool afterparty at Pocketbook Hudson. Sat, free w/ suggested $15 donation. Afterparty: $15—$20. Trolley is free.

⭐️ 🍷 Adirondack Wine & Food Festival | Prepare to sip, snack, and stroll your way through this sprawling foodie fest, taking place at the Charles R. Wood Festival Commons in Lake George all weekend. The 10th anniversary celebration brings together 120+ New York wineries, breweries, distilleries, cideries, artisan food makers, and food trucks, plus live music, aerialists, and activities for the kids. Sat-Sun, $55 for GA and $100 for VIP tix.

⭐️ 🏳️‍🌈 Saratoga Pride kicks off at 1 pm at High Rock Park, with tons of musical acts, food vendors, and community partners in pride joining in. Keep the party going at Whitman Brewing Co. Closer to Albany, it’s Pride Night Out in downtown Troy with not one but three official afterparties! At Monument Square, there will be drag performances led by Typhoid Mary and beats by DJ Phoenix. Get to Context Collective for A Big Gay Market. All events are free.

⭐️ 🌕️ Moon Bloom Festival | Moon Bloom is not quite a rave, but it has all of the feel-good vibes of your classic underground music gathering. Taking place at the Magic Forest Farm in Coeymans Hollow, the festival features a full lineup of performances, workshops led by “wisdom weavers,” a village of “magical vendors,” live painters, and a kids’ zone. A full pass allows for tent camping so you can stay in the magical forest all weekend. Fri-Sun, day passes for adults start at $145.

⭐️ 🎸 Mind Blown Festival | Wanna go hard in Glens Falls? This is the festival for you. With a big focus on mental health, Mind Blown bills itself as a “free underground rock festival bringing loud music, bold art, and big-hearted community… where you can headbang in one moment and have a deep, life-giving conversation in the next.” Sat, 11:30a-9p, free.

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

🐐 The GOAT of summer experiences

Now that the warm season is in full swing, it’s a great time to think about… goats! For some reason, people just adore goats, especially the baby variety. Here are some goat experiences to try out:

• Goat yoga at June Farms ($22/p)

• Mariaville Goat Farm, near Schenectady, offers goat yoga ($20/p) and “goat cuddles” ($10/p)

• Into the Woods Farm in Middle Grove offers private, 90-min goat walks ($150 for up to 4 guests). The farm also does goat yoga ($35/ person)

• Beekman Farm Tours in Sharon Springs, includes time with goats ($30/p)

• Goat yoga at the Greater Glenville Family YMCA in Scotia ($50 for non-members)

• If you’re willing to make the drive, Celtic Valley Carriage & Farm in Middletown, NY, offers goat hikes and coffee for just $10 a person

• The Frederick Farm Goat Rescue & Sanctuary in the Catskills offers “Adventure Hikes with the Herd” for $50/p

📚️ Urban Aftermath, the iconic, full-to-bursting bookstore in downtown Albany is closing its Hamilton Street location and closing shop as a public bookstore. An online reviewer said it best: "Variety is the spice of life. And this place is spicy." Go soak up the ambiance one final time, and find out what’s coming up for owner Hassan Elminyawi. Check Facebook for final days & hours, through July 4th.

TONIGHT

🎸 It’s classic rock night at Alive at Five, headlined by You, Me & Afrobeats Party. Moved to the rain location at the Corning Preserve Boat Launch under the I-787 Bridge.

🇺🇲 Scotia’s Freedom Park lights up with an “America 250” fireworks celebration featuring Roxy and the Rollers (classic rock).

🎸 Skeeter Creek headlines Rock the Block in Cohoes.

💜 It’s a Prince x David Bowie mashup at Schenectady’s Electric City SummerFest.

⚾️ The Tri-City ValleyCats play Joe Bruno Stadium tonight through Sunday, with postgame fireworks tonight and Saturday.

FRIDAY

💦 Get the family to the free Jumpin' Jacks Fireworks & Water Ski Show in Scotia. Fireworks go off at 9:20 pm.

🪕 The Old Songs Festival is a huge music event with 100 daytime performances, dances and workshops, at the Altamont Fairgrounds. All weekend.

🍫 Drop into Willy Wonka’s magical world with “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory,” playing at Cohoes Music Hall, opening Friday (runs through July 18).

🎸 Jive Hive Live is taking it on the road to Troy’s Slidin’ Dirty, with the NolaNaughts and the Amy Ryan Band on the bill. Read our profile of Jive Hive Live—the Capital Region’s best-kept musical secret.

🫧 Get to Saratoga’s Congress Park for the Big Bubble Party, a family-friendly affair featuring, yup, lots of bubbles.

📷️ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΑ (Greek for freedom), a photo exhibit by Kiki Vassilakis, opens at Context Collective.

🍗 Did you know you can get $5 fried chicken and $5 cocktails at Hattie’s on Phila Street every Friday (5-7p) all summer long?

🎭️ Catch “Romeo & Juliet” at Fulton County’s first-ever Shakespeare in the Park in Gloversville.

SATURDAY

🎷 The Saratoga Jazz Festival takes over SPAC with incredible jazz talents from across the globe.

🛼 Catch the Albany All Stars Roller Derby vs Hill City Capital Crushers at the Washington Avenue Armory.

🕯️ The Water Lantern Festival promises to fill the Empire State Plaza with hundreds of twinkling lanterns. But admission is a pricey $32.99—if you go, let us know if this was worth it!

SUNDAY

🎭️ The audience helps create the show at Mabel & Geffrey’s Musical Comedy Fundraiser, benefiting Things of Our Very Own. At Mopco.

🧘‍♂️ One of Lark Street Yoga's OG instructors Alyssa Ladzinski leads Disco Yoga at Lark Hall.

🏳️‍🌈 No Fun hosts a Burlesque Bingo Fundraiser to benefit Collar City Pride.

💃 Dance under the sky with SEED at the Stablegate Winery.

UPCOMING

7/4: New York State’s Fourth of July
7/10: Water Music NY More Voices Festival
7/11: Twilight Market
7/18: Summer Art Fest
7/19: Sundae Morning (our own ice cream event!)
7/25: Catskill Mountain Yoga Festival
7/29: The 518 Dinner Club
8/16: Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy’s Trail Tunes

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

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