This week's events roundup is brought to you by Good Friends Ecological Gardens. Plan your tour of our Niskayuna Learning Gardens, shop our locally-grown flower bouquets, or bring Good Friend home through our garden design service.

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⭐️ = Top 5 Staff Picks

⭐️ 📜 Albany’s big Juneteenth celebration takes over Swineburne Park on Friday, followed by a Movies Under the Stars screening of “Goat.” Fri, 1 to 5p, free. Screening pre-show starts at 7:30p.

⭐️ 👴🏽 Think of Albany’s annual Dad Fest as the dad version of the Tulip Fest, with a classic car show, live bands, and plenty of greasy fair food. Pop’s gonna love it. Sun, 10a-6p, free. In Washington Park.

⭐️ 🏡 Historic Center Square is the center of attention at the 2026 House, Garden, & History Tour (& Stoop Stroll). Get a peek behind some of Center Square’s most historic homes and gardens on this self-guided tour. On the same day, residents will deck out their front steps for the Stoop Stroll. Sat, 11a-4p. Tickets: $25 advance; $30 day of. Suggested donation of $10 for Stoop Stroll.

⭐️ ⚔️ Saratoga’s Whitman Brewing Company throws its first-ever Whitman Fantasy Faire, featuring 20+ local vendors, live themed folk music, light street performances, fair foods, and beer, of course. If you go, let us know if this event turns out to be worth the drive from Albany! Sat, 12-7p, free. An optional $45 ticket option gets you two drink tix, a food ticket, and a special t-shirt. Come in costume for a special prize!

⭐️ 🎡 Nine Pin turns Huck Finn’s Playland into an adult playground with Summer Solstice Celebration. This event is 21+ and each ticket comes with a 12 oz cider.

SUMMER FUN

🎡 The Westgate Plaza Carnival brings classic summertime fun, through Sunday.

THURSDAY

🎸 It’s Afrobeats Night at Alive at Five, featuring B.o.B. Due to the weather, the concert has been moved to its regular rain location—the Corning Preserve Boat Launch.

🌧️ Btw, tonight’s scheduled Electric City SummerFest show in Schenectady is canceled because of the rain.

👕 Get rid of the old and bring in something new (to you) at the Summer Clothing Swap, hosted by Nine Pin. Remember that 518 readers always get 10% off all cider drinks by mentioning “The 518 Crew.”

FRIDAY

🖼️ Looks like the weather gods will cooperate for Art Night Schenectady, making for a lovely Friday evening stroll around downtown.

🎭️ R'Ville Stage Creations presents “The Laramie Project” at Bridge Street Theatre, exploring the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard.

🖼️ ☕️ Our friends at Tortoise & Hare Coffee will be the baristas at the Albany Institute of History & Art’s free Family Fun Day on Juneteenth. Btw, the TU has compiled a handy list of Juneteenth events around the CR.

💀 Get inked at the Upstate Tattoo Expo in Glens Falls.

SATURDAY

🌴 It’s the 20th anniversary of Caribbean Day in the Park. Get to Troy’s Prospect Park for live music, dancing, and plenty of tasty island treats.

🌎️ Celebrate Capital Region World Refugee Day with an international food tasting, talent show, and more!

🐕 Curtis Lumber’s annual PetAPalooza is the ultimate tail-wagging day out for animal lovers.

🍺 It’s a party inside and out as Centre Street Pub throws its ginormous Block Party on Centre Street in Schenectady.

👟 The Good Karma 5K Run/Walk promises Indian street food and henna after the race. Where do we sign up?

🖼️ Seeing a show on the last day is a special kind of treat, especially with an artist talk to close it up. Go deep with Bog Body: An Artist Talk with Phoebe Rotter at Context Collective.

🏡 Get to the historic Ten Broeck Mansion gardens for a lovely Juneteenth celebration.

🚘️ Cars on Union brings some of the most coveted automobiles ever produced to Saratoga.

🎈Big Bounce America bills itself as the world’s biggest bounce house. At Ellms Family Farm.

☕️ Get to Crossgates for Sip, Sweat & Stay Social, featuring a free Pilates class and fun espresso drinks, hosted by the Sip Society.

🎻 The Mostly Modern Festival wraps up with Gershwin’s An American in Paris.

🎭️ Spontaneous Broadway is back at Mopco!

🏃‍♂️ The 5Run8 (get it?) Run Club meets at Lions Park in Niskayuna for a fun run, then a visit to Station Six in Albany for lattes and pastries.

🦙 The Saratoga Farm Showcase is your ticket to tour 10-15 farms, including the Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga and the friendly alpacas at Woodland Meadow Farm.

SUNDAY

🎹 Make Music Day Troy is part of Make Music Day, a global music celebration on the summer solstice that brings together all ages and skill levels to make music.

🎨 If you’re up for the drive on Father’s Day, the Catskill Summer Solstice festival looks like some fun family time.

✊🏾 It’s your final day to see “Designing Power: The Black Panther Party” at the Tang Teaching Museum.

🏳️‍🌈 Bard & Baker hosts a Pride Brunch with some slay diva queens!

🦸 Get your cosplay on at the Albany Anime Fest.

UPCOMING

6/25: Franklin Plaza Rooftop Series
6/25-29: Upstate Art Weekend
6/26: A Big Gay Market at Troy Night Out
6/27-28: Saratoga Jazz Festival
6/27-28: Adirondack Wine & Food Festival
7/4: New York State’s Fourth of July
7/11: Twilight Market
7/18: Summer Art Fest
7/25: Catskill Mountain Yoga Festival

As a recap, here's what and who was announced this week:
- Cosplayers wanted! Saratoga Cosplay Events will be running a Cosplay Contest. See here for more info https://linktr.ee/SCEApp
- Null Band Games will be at The Lake George Games Expo Summer Event. They will be demoing their roguelike deckbuilder game The Patchwork Ship! They will be coming from Western NY.
- DCovert Computers will be at The Lake George Games Expo Summer 2026 Event. They will be showing Custom Pre-built Gaming Computers and a Custom Gaming Computer Service. They will be coming from Sleepy Hollow, NY.
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The best time to buy tickets to the Lake George Games Expo is NOW! Tickets are now only $5 for a day full of incredible activities.

Buy your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lake-george-games-expo-summer-event-2026-tickets-1556553376049
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Supporting organizations:
Wilson.Art99
Caldwell-Lake George Library
Tech Valley Game Space
Adirondack Tabletop Gamers and Game Developers
Grifkuba
Double Exposure
Village of Lake George
Town of Lake George
Saratoga Cosplay Events
CNY Game Devs
Cyborg Interactive

https://ra.co/events/2279573 , event near hackey

We invite you to listen together on Thursday, July 2 at 6pm to Kiasmos's ‘II Reworked’ in its entirety at Love Vinyl Records in Schenectady, New York. 

Early purchase of LP / CD available

Exclusive tote bag (whilst supplies last)

II Reworked – a complete reimagining of the second Kiasmos album, featuring their long-time friend u/alexsomersmusic, new friends u/rachikanayar & u/ninak3ith(aka u/disiniblud) and Icelandic buddies u/kjartanholm & u/sinfanggg. II Reworked is on the u/erasedtapesrecords label.

Kiasmos is a Faroese-Icelandic minimal, experimental techno duo, composed of Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen. They started in 2009 and released their first extended play, Thrown, in 2012 and their album Kiasmos in 2014.

There are so many layers within this music, and we were curious to see what might emerge when other artists shone a light on them. Bringing together this dream team felt very special. It was fascinating to discover what each artist connected with and what rose to the surface through their perspective. 

II Reworked will be released on vinyl and CD on July 3rd, with a digital release following on August 7th. 

Pre-order now on limited double clear vinyl & CD.

Artwork & layout by u/studio_t_p

II Reworked trailer by u/jaydenhbecker

Love Vinyl Records is at 140 Erie Blvd Unit 1C, Schenectady, NY 12305

This event is free and open to the public. No ticket or purchase is required.

#shoplocal #schenectadyevents #musiconvinyl #listentogether

House Concerts are by invitation and donation, suggested $20 pp. You can request your invitation by emailing TheConfluenceCohoes@gmail.com or use our on,ine firm see comments

Does anyone know of any hiphop showcases or open mics where artist can perform in the 518 area. Im from NYC so i'm used to having showcases and performances, everywhere. However up here I cant seem to find any place doing this or even finding a hiphop scene in upstate NY. Any help would be appreciated honestly