You can get jazzy or you can go folksy this weekend, as two festivals celebrate their longevity on the entertainment front.
At the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, The Freihofer’s Jazz Festival will be the reason for this weekend’s crowd in the Spa City. This is the 29th year of the festival.
Forty percent of the people who come to the jazz festival turn it into a weekend event, said Vesna Gjaja, SPAC’s director of development and marketing. `It’s easy to see why ` Saratoga’s a great place to visit and we have a wonderful line-up of artists in a beautiful spot.`
Festival Productions, Inc., stages the jazz festival.
`Their experience, our venue and the public make this a great event,` Gjaja said. `For the jazz festival, we draw a large group of people from beyond a 50-mile radius.`
Gjaja said the weekend is also a nice family event.
`We have arts and crafts, and southern-style food,` she said.
Music at the jazz festival starts at noon on Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25, in both the amphitheater and the gazebo at SPAC. For information, call 584-9330 or visit the Web site, www.spac.org. Tickets to the festival cost between $5 for children on the lawn and more than $100 for a two-day pass. SPAC is located on Route 50 in Saratoga Spa State Park.
In Altamont, you can listen to old hits from Quebec, learn to play the pennywhistle, or catch some Celtic music from Spain at the Old Songs Festival this weekend.
This is the 26th year that the Old Songs Festival has taken place, and along with the varied music, dancing and workshops you can participate in, there are also arts and crafts and food. You can check out www.oldsongs.org for photos from past festivals. The festival is located at the Altamont Fairgrounds at 100 Main St. in Altamont. Admission ranges from $15 for an afternoon of classes to $105 for the whole weekend with camping. For information, visit www.oldsongs.org. “
