If you cannot find something to do in Buffalo this weekend, you are ACTIVELY trying to be bored.
It is the first weekend of the month, bringing with it the first Friday of the month … which means both M&T First Friday at the Albright-Knox Art Museum, and the Allentown Association’s First Friday.
Allen Street between Franklin and Virginia Place will be closed to traffic for this month’s gallery walk, which also boasts live music, a GOBike rodeo for kids, and giant chalk art opportunites for attendees. For more information, check out the association’s website.
Albright’s First Friday, sponsored by M&T Bank, meanwhile, has a day full of classes available for kids and adults alike. A number of free tours are scheduled, gallery and artist talks are slated. The evening continues with Jazz and Happy Hour, and a drop-in art opportunity with artist Amanda Browder on her Spectral Locus project. The evening concludes with The Art of Food and Drink in the AK Cafe hosted by Black Squirrel Distillery.
Preregistration is strongly recommended for most activities, required for others. Especially the Art of Food and Drink. Shocking, amirite?
If galleries aren’t your gig, Coca-Cola Field’s Friday Night Bash gets underway at 5 with Happy Hour sponsored by Flying Bison Brewing Company. The Bisons take on the Syracuse Chiefs at 6:05. Following the game, it’s the Friday Night Bash fireworks show, sponsored by Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino. Details and tickets available through the Bison’s website.
Don’t bash too hard Friday night: Elmwood-Bidwell Farmer’s Market opens for the season bright and early at 8 a.m. Mother’s Day shopping slackers can find a variety of goods from local purveyors such as Szuli’s Greenhouses, Community Beer Works, and Blackbird Sweets. Rob Falgiano and Nickel City String Band will provide entertainment from about 9:30 to 12:30, which leads into Porchfest.
Buffalo Porchfest Spring 2016 starts at 1, on porches throughout the Elmwood Village, so meander and enjoy.
Saturday also happens to be Kentucky Derby Day, and while tickets for the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village’s Derby Luncheon needed to be secured by Tuesday, there are still tickets available at last check for Derby Day at the Marcy Casino from 4 – 7 p.m. Or wear your fanciest hat to Buffalo Raceway, which claims WNY’s Largest Derby Party. Doors open at 10 a.m., live racing follows the broadcast from Churchill Downs, and happy hour wraps Derby Day up from 4 -6 p.m.
If you prefer your large domesticated animals more free-range and playing kickball, head out to Asha Sanctuary to meet Albert the Super Cow. Not only do you get to meet the coolest bovine on the planet, you’ll get 5-bucks for doing so. Shameless promotion of a cool video goes here:
Exploring the urban environment more your speed? Try Hertel Avenue Business Association’s Mama Fest. Get ahead of the Mother’s Day curve by taking mom out to shop and dine, or handle your last minute shopping in North Buffalo.
All of the above a little too “outdoors” for you? It is also Free Comic Book Day. Local participating shops include: Collectors Inn in Kenmore; 1811 Comics and Dave & Adam’s Card World in Williamsville; Halley’s Comics and Games and Gamerz Haven in North Tonawanda, and; Queen City Bookstore near UB.
Queen City Bookstore carries over to Sunday according to their Facebook, so if Mom REALLY needs the latest Dark Knight, and you are HELLA disorganized, you still have Sunday to branch Mom into the world of graphic storytelling.
As I may have mentioned (hint hint, Bach offspring), Sunday is Mother’s Day. Also lots of things to do. Like your mom’s dishes. But I digress.
Buffalo Zoo’s Mother’s Day Brunch requires advance tickets, but try your luck for seatings at 9:30 or 11:30 a.m. from this link. No luck? Maybe The Buffalo Philharmonics Mozart, Mahler, and Mothers Day lets you treat mom to a gourmet lunch and some tasty classical music. Give it a try.
Or, make mom brunch at home, and take her for a walk down Hertel Avenue in the afternoon, checking out all those shops you visited Saturday during Mama Fest, and finally stopping in to Daily Planet Coffee for a cuppa between 3 and 5. There you can catch the Bell Canto Quartet – formerly known as The String Sisters.
I realize this list is in no way exhaustive of what is going on around town this weekend. These really are the highlights of which events caught my eye. And – let’s face it – this column really is all about me. Kidding. Maybe. Just hoping the kids will do the dishes this weekend.
Helen Bach is a returned WNY expatriate, now a Buffalo resident. She has 3 adult-sized kids, 1 wiggle-sized dog and a scintillating career dramatically unrelated to journalism.
All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
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