Featured Events in Albany in December, 2024 (February Updated)

Albany's premier holiday event, Deck The Halls Holiday Show 2024, is set to light up the Colonie Center in New York. Mark your calendars for an unforgettable experience from December 7th to December 8th, 2024. This annual extravaganza will showcase a winter wonderland filled with festive decorations, dazzling lights, and a myriad of holiday-themed activities for all ages. "The Deck The Halls Holiday Show 2024 promises to be a spectacular affair, with a lineup of local artisans displaying unique handcrafted gifts, live entertainment that'll have attendees tapping their feet to the rhythm, and a Santa's grotto that's sure to delight little ones. As the crisp winter air fills with the scent of pine and the sounds of merriment, visitors can indulge in seasonal treats and hot cocoa while browsing the stalls for the perfect holiday treasures. "With its serious commitment to spreading holiday cheer, the Deck The Halls Holiday Show 2024 at the Colonie Center is the perfect way to kick-start the season's festivities in Albany. This event is not to be missed and is expected to draw crowds from near and far, eager to bask in the glow of the holiday spirit.

The Shop Til You Drop Show 2024 is set to be an unparalleled shopping extravaganza, taking place from December 20 to December 22 at the Colonie Center in Albany, New York. This highly anticipated event promises to be a haven for shoppers, featuring an extensive array of vendors offering the latest in fashion, electronics, home goods, and more. Attendees can expect exclusive deals, unique finds, and the opportunity to discover emerging brands. With the holiday season in full swing, the Shop Til You Drop Show 2024 is the perfect destination to complete holiday shopping lists and indulge in some retail therapy. The event's prime location at the Colonie Center ensures a convenient and enjoyable shopping experience, with ample parking and a variety of dining options available. Don't miss the chance to be part of this premier shopping event, where the best in retail comes together under one roof.

Sound + Vision: Music at The Moviespresents the greatest in soundtrack-cinema. On the first Tuesday of every month, we curate a film screening where the music fuels the engine of the cinema experience, with a preshow moderated discussion on the film and music’s history and cultural impact. Presented in Hi-def and 51. surround sound. Co-sponsored by WAMC, WEXT, and Rochmon Record Club. With the idiosyncratic American fable Harold and Maude, countercultural director Hal Ashby fashioned what would become the cult classic of its era. Working from a script by Colin Higgins, Ashby tells the story of the emotional and romantic bond between a death-obsessed young man (Bud Cort) from a wealthy family and a devil-may-care, bohemian octogenarian (Ruth Gordon). Equal parts gallows humor and romantic innocence, Harold and Maude dissolves the line between darkness and light along with the ones that separate people by class, gender, and age, and it features indelible performances and a remarkable soundtrack by Cat Stevens. Information Source: The Linda WAMC's Performing Arts Studio | eventbrite

About Veretski Pass:Veretski Pass is a trio of Jewish Music veterans who have been at the forefront of the klezmer revival for over 25 years. Their output spans the ultra-traditional to the Avant Garde. Taking their name from the mountain pass through which Magyar tribes crossed into the Carpathian basin to settle what later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Veretski Pass offers a unique and exciting combination of virtuosic musicianship and raw energy that has excited concertgoers across the world. The trio plays Old Country Music with origins in the Ottoman Empire, once fabled as the borderlands of the East and the West. In a true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, typical suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania; Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia; and haunting Rebetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with original compositions. Their CDs have repeatedly been on the 10-best recording lists of journalists since 2002. Many, many thanks to Alan Kaplan, our sponsor for this presentation of Veretski Pass! If you're inspired by Alan's generosity and would also like to sponsor a concert, drop us a line :)Artist Profiles:Cookie Segelstein, violin and viola, received her Masters degree in Viola from The Yale School of Music in 1984. Until moving to California in 2010, she was principal violist in Orchestra New England and assistant principal in The New Haven Symphony, as well as on the music faculty at Southern Connecticut State University. She is the founder and director of Veretski Pass, a member of Budowitz, The Youngers of Zion with Henry Sapoznik, has performed with Kapelye, The Klezmatics, Frank London, Klezmer Fats and Swing with Pete Sokolow and the late Howie Leess, Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, and The Klezmer Conservatory Band. Cookie has presented lecture demonstrations and workshops on klezmer fiddling all over the world, including at Yale University, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Marshall University in Huntington, West VA, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, University of Oregon in Eugene, Pacific University, SUNY-Cortland, and at Klezmerwochen in Weimar, Germany. She is a regular staff member at Living Traditions' KlezKamp, KlezKanada, KlezCalifornia, Klezmer Festival Fürth, Klezfest London, and has been a performing artist at Centrum's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Wash. She was featured on the ABC documentary, “A Sacred Noise,” heard on HBO’s “Sex and the City”, appears in the Miramax film, “Everybody’s Fine” starring Robert De Niro, and is heard on several recordings including Veretski Pass, Trafik and The Klezmer Shul, Budowitz Live, the Koch International label with Orchestra New England in The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives, Hazònes with Frank London, A Living Tradition with the late Moldovan clarinetist, German Goldenshteyn and Fleytmuzik with Adrianne Greenbaum. She is also the publisher of The Music of... series of klezmer transcriptions. Active as a Holocaust educator and curriculum advisor, she has been a frequent lecturer at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Niantic, CT. She is on the boards of both the North California Viola Society, and the American String Teacher Association, Bay Area chapter. Cookie is also an Apple Certified Support Professional, and owns and operates The Macmama. Cookie lives in Berkeley, with her husband, Josh Horowitz, a dog and her occasionally visiting adult children. Joshua Horowitz, 19th Century button accordion, Tsimbl (hammered dulcimer) received his Masters degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Academy of Music in Graz, Austria, where he taught Music Theory and served as Research Fellow and Director of the Yiddish Music Research Project for eight years. He was chosen as the co-curator and orchestrator by the San Francisco Symphony for its Jewish Installment of their “Currents” series He is the founder and director of the ensemble Budowitz, a founding member of Veretski Pass and has performed and recorded with Itzhak Perlman, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, Ben Goldberg, Rubin and Horowitz, Brave Old World, Adrienne Cooper and Ruth Yaakov. His music was recently featured in the British film, “Some of my best friends are... Jewish / Muslim”, awarded the Sandford St. Martin Trust Religious Broadcasting Award and is also featured in the new film by Jes Benstock, The Holocaust Tourist . His recordings with Veretski Pass, Budowitz, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Rubin & Horowitz and Alicia Svigals, have achieved international recognition and he is the recipient of more than 40 awards for his work as both composer and performer. He was one of the co-founders of the Austrian experimental composer collective, “Die Andere Saite” and received the Prize of Honor by the Austrian government for his orchestral composition, “Tenebrae.” Following his children’s Opera, “Der Wilde Man”, Joshua received The “Award for Outstanding Talent in Composition” from the City of Graz and was twice finalist in the National American ASCAP competition. While teaching at the Graz Academy of Music he was awarded both The David Herzog and Fritz Spielman Awards, and received ongoing support from Louise M. Davies for his dedication to music creativity and education. In 2001, Joshua’s group, Budowitz was chosen by the Austrian government to represent the country in the International Celebration of World Culture’s held at the “House of the Cultures of The World” in Berlin. Joshua taught Advanced Jazz Theory at Stanford University with the late saxophonist Stan Getz and is a regular teacher at KlezKamp, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia and the Klezmer Festival Fürth. His musicological work is featured in four books, including The Sephardic Songbook with Aron Saltiel and The Ultimate Klezmer, and he has written numerous articles on the counterpoint of J.S. Bach. Josh lives in Berkeley with his wife Cookie. Stuart Brotman, 3-String Bass, baraban, has been an accomplished performer, arranger and recording artist in the ethnic music field for over 50 years. A founding member of Los Angeles' Ellis Island Band, he has been a moving force in the klezmer revival since its beginning, and has defined klezmer bass (“It’s a large instrument that plays really low and has an accent.”) He holds a B.A. in music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and has taught at KlezKamp, Buffalo on the Roof, the Balkan Music and Dance Workshops, Klezkanada, KlezCalifornia, and numerous European festivals and institutes, including Oxford University, Klezfest London, Yiddish Summer Weimar, Klezmer Festival Fürth, and the Krakow Jewish Festival. Stu has been recording, touring, and teaching New Jewish Music with world class ensemble, Brave Old World since 1989, and is featured in the PBS Great Performances film and CD, “Itzhak Perlman, in the Fiddler’s House,” and in the 2010 documentary, “Song of the Lodz Ghetto, with the music of Brave Old World.” Long admired as a versatile soloist and sensitive accompanist in traditional and pop music circles, he has toured and recorded with Canned Heat, Kaleidoscope, and Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and played cimbalom on Ry Cooder’s celebrated recording, “Jazz,” which premiered at Carnegie Hall. Stu appeared in the Los Angeles production of Joshua Sobol’s “Ghetto,” the San Francisco production of “Shlemiel the First,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, played cimbalom in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” and contrabass balalaika in “Love Affair.” He produced The Klezmorim's Grammy nominated album, Metropolis, and has recorded with The Klezmorim, Kapelye, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Davka, The San Francisco Klezmer Experience, and Khevrisa. Stuart lives in Berkeley, California. Join us in person, by live-stream, OR on-demand! (For on-demand viewing, simply purchase a live-stream only ticket, and then watch the recording at your leisure anytime in the following two weeks.)WE GUARANTEE ALL OF OUR PERFORMERS A MINIMUM FAIR WAGE - thanks to support from people like you!COVID Safety Protocols:Masking is encouraged as an individual choice; this protects everyone from the spread of viruses. Masks will be readily available to those who want one.Up-to-date immunizations (including flu, COVID, pneumonia and RSV) are strongly encouraged.Hand sanitizer will be available, and is encouraged.Whenever weather permits, we will ventilate our spaces to the maximum degree possible, and employ the use of air purifiers.If you have tested positive for COVID, or feel at all unwell, we urge you in the strongest possible way to stay home.Very best,Calliope: East Bay Music & Arts Board of Directors Information Source: Calliope: East Bay Music & Arts | eventbrite

It's BOOZY BEATS BINGO at TGI Fridays American Bar & Grill. Forget traditional bingo! BEATS is a music-charged celebration of the best music of today, yesterday, and the day before that. There are no rolling balls, no boring commentary - if your song, artist, or album comes up on your bingo card, mark it off while you groove along and win fantastic prizes. Be reminded of the songs you love while you eat, drink, and be merry at the best and most entertaining version of bingo in town! PRIZES TGI Fridays vouchers up for grabs at every bingo! THE EVENT We'll throw the doors open from 6:30pm so you can swing in, grab your seat, plan your order, and get ready for the show to begin. Play with a friend or get a whole table together and have a wonderful time. This event is hosted by your local Bingo Baron or Baroness from The Full House Co. They'll keep the night moving, your cards marking, and the music blasting! BINGO! DANCE OFFS! LIP SYNCH BATTLES! SING ALONGS! It's all here. DEALS ON BINGO NIGHTS Enjoy large cocktails at a small price every Ultimate Thursday! They're perfect to share, or for anyone feeling real thirsty our Ultimate cocktails are served in an extra large glass using premium spirits. Try an Ultimate version of our signature Margarita or Long Island Iced Tea, or power up with an Ultimate Electric Lemonade! All Ultimate cocktails are $15 every Thursday for MyFridays members. HOW TO REGISTER Remember to reserve a free ticket for each of the people participating so we can allocate tables for you. Add one ticket per participant at your table. If this event is marked as ‘sold out’ please do not hesitate to join the waitlist. We make additional tables available closer to the event. If you are unable to attend for any reason, please cancel your tickets as early as possible. These events frequently sell out, and we can make spots available to others on the waitlist. SPECIAL EDITION COCKTAILS Each of our Special Edition cocktails is from our Ultimate $15 menu for MyFridays members! Arrive early to order your food and drinks to avoid wait times Information Source: Grape Vine Events | eventbrite

Calling all City of Canning staff and Leisureplex Group Fitness members to join us for a free Zumba class at the City of Cannning Amphitheatre. The class will run for 45mins and we will have 2 x Zumba Instructors to teach the class. We will be accepting unwrapped donations and gift cards for Zonta House Refuge Association, a specialist provider of family and domestic violence (FDV) services. Information Source: City of Canning | eventbrite

Vibrational Acoustic Sound Experience Come join us for a unique event that will soothe your senses and elevate your spirit! Our acoustic sound experience will transport you to a place of relaxation and rejuvenation. Immerse yourself in the vibrational frequencies that will harmonize your mind, body, and soul. Located at 20 Bald Hills Rd, our event promises to be a one-of-a-kind journey into the world of sound healing. Let the powerful vibrations wash over you as you unwind and let go of stress. You deserve this moment of peace and tranquility. Open yourself up to the healing sounds that will resonate within you long after the event is over. Don't miss out on this opportunity to experience the magic of acoustic vibrations in a welcoming and serene environment. Information Source: Natures Real Beauty | eventbrite

Back for our third year, the 2024 edition returns to Albany, CA! The event offers THREE routes (with ride leaders) of varying distances. The event start & end is located in the parking lot of Mary and Joe's Sporting Goods on San Pablo Ave, in Albany CA, with support from Mr. Dewie's Cashew Creamery and Hot Shop burritos next door. Riders will be able to grab coffee & donuts in the morning, and then be treated to ice cream, drinks, and burritos after they finish! Coffee & donuts will be available at 8:30AM for the first wave of those doing the long route (9:00AM departure), and will remain available for the Medium (9:30AM Departure) and Short (10:30AM Departure) riders. Short Route - (10:30AM Departure) For riders looking for a casual, no drop ride~ 1.5hrsMedium Route - (9:30AM Departure) For riders looking for a steady-paced ride of 15 - 17mph average~ 2.5 - 3hrsLong Route - (9:00AM Departure) For experienced group ridersMinimal regroups, average speed 17 - 20mph.This ride group is not a race and riders must follow all rules of the road - stop signs, stop lights, pedestrians. Ride leaders will guide the speed and behavior of the group.~3.25 - 4hrsAll ticket sales and GoFundMe donations support Monarch Racing's 2025 season. Monarch Racing has two teams in 2025. Our domestic elite women's road team, in its third year, is based in the Bay Area, and provides complete support and mentorship for ambitious women seeking to race at the highest professional level in the U.S. New in 2025 is Monarch Racing Development - a road team of 14 U19 girls and non-binary riders hailing from Marin, Oakland, Berkeley, El Cerrito, and Sunol. The team commits to empowering youth in our community by hosting clinics, group rides, and skill-based events for U19 girls, youth riders, and adults. We were recognized by USA Cycling with the Innovation Grant in fall of 2024, acknowledging our impact on growing cycling with innovative programs. 100% of your donations and tickets support both our teams' race & season expenses and cover the costs associated with community events. Information Source: Helena Gilbert-Snyder & Monarch Racing | eventbrite

Experience the magic of the holiday season at the Worship Live! Holiday Tour in Albany. Taking place at the Albany Civic Center on December 15, 2024, this event promises to be a soul-stirring celebration of faith and music. Join fellow worshippers at 100 W Oglethorpe Blvd for an unforgettable evening filled with inspirational performances and uplifting messages. Immerse yourself in the spirit of the holidays and be a part of this special event that will leave you feeling renewed and inspired.