The Alive at Five concert series takes over Riverfront Park on Thursday evenings every summer. National, regional and local artists --- a different genre each week --- perform for a happy and diverse crowd of Albany residents and visitors. This event, which has been going on for 22 years, brings out the street vendors, selling a wide variety of food, beverages and crafts.
The Port of Albany's Riverfront Jazz Festival has been in existence since 2000 and attracts a diverse and sparkling lineup of heavy hitters, "a rainbow of styles and shadings" as the Times Union put it in 2010. Expect to hear everything from polyrhythmic world beat to fluid, mellow saxophone, rhythm and blues and funk. Ravi Coltrane and Aaron Neville's son, Ivan, with his New Orleans band DumpstaPhunk, were among the headliners in 2010. The day always ends with fireworks.
The city of Albany celebrates each Father's Day with a free concert and fireworks. Musical genres vary; the 2010 event featured the U.S. Army Materiel Command Band, veterans of performance in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, playing a mix of rock and Americana. A kid- and dad-pleasing fireworks display rounds out the evening..
Albany Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve features an amphitheatre that can seat 1,000 people and a view of the water as a backdrop to the stage. There is a bicycle path to explore, accessed via the Hudson River Way Pedestrian Bridge and all the sights of an active river port to enjoy. All events are free. Park rules forbid alcoholic beverages, coolers, backpacks or any kind of container that could hold a beverage (cups, cans, bottles, flasks) and pets other than service dogs.