SARATOGA SPRINGS — The 38th annual Flurry Festival returns to downtown Saratoga Springs on Feb. 13–15, filling the Saratoga Springs City Center and surrounding venues with traditional music and dance. More than 3,000 people are expected to attend the festival, which features 222 sessions.
The Flurry is distinctive for the range of genres it brings together in one place. Programming includes styles such as contra, swing, Cajun and Zydeco, Balkan and Scandinavian dance, Irish, tap, Latin, English country dance, and many more. Saturday evening will include a Mardi Gras–themed track, while late-night offerings feature technocontra, squares, blues and balfolk parties, and DJ-driven fusion dancing.
“For one winter weekend, downtown Saratoga Springs fills with music from all over the world,” said Jonathan Greene, program curator of the Flurry Festival. “The Flurry brings energy into the city at a quiet time of year and invites the whole community to be part of it.”
In addition to dancing, participants can attend concerts and showcases, instrument workshops, singing sessions, presentations and discussions, jams, storytelling, and family programming, and visit food and craft vendors.
The Flurry welcomes beginners and people of all ages and abilities, with no partner required and instruction offered at multiple levels. “This is a festival where participation really matters,” said Greene. “You don’t need a partner, special equipment, or years of experience. Really just a willingness to try something new.”
A newcomer orientation at 5 p.m. Friday will offer tips and guidance, followed by a 6 p.m. “Discovery Hour” of introductory sessions designed to help participants sample new styles. For those seeking a deeper dive, four Friday afternoon pre-festival Intensive workshops provide focused instruction in Swing Dance, Latin Dance, Waltz Dancing, or Vocal Harmony.
Saturday family programming will be free and open to the public at the Saratoga Springs Public Library from 9:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. and will include songs, stories, crafts, movement games, and a family dance. Children’s, family, and teen programming continues throughout the weekend, with intergenerational participation being a hallmark of the Flurry experience.
Full or partial weekend tickets are available at a discount online through Feb. 6, with tickets for all days also available at the door. Special rates are offered for seniors and attendees under 26, scholarship tickets are available, and children 12 and under attend free. Full schedule details, ticketing information, and updates are available at www.flurryfestival.org.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Joel Moss, the Caffe Lena broadcast and sound technician who passed away last year, was honored during the Grammy Awards’ “In Memoriam” segment on Sunday night.
Moss’ long and illustrious career in the music business earned him 6 Grammy wins and 11 nominations.
“From working with music legends to championing artists and music education close to home, Joel’s impact reached far beyond any single stage,” said Caffe Lena in a social media post. “We are grateful for all he gave to our community and to the world of music.”
Moss’ final award at the Grammys came in 2015, when he won Best Musical Theater Album for “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” His previous wins also included Best Musical Show Album for “In The Heights” in 2009, and Album Of The Year for “Genius Loves Company” in 2005.
Moss was a record producer, sound engineer, and mixer who recorded albums for artists such as Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, Little Richard, and Joe Cocker. His life and career began in Detroit, where he led a Hebrew folk quintet called The Hi-Liters that played at Lena in 1963. In the Saratoga area, he recorded and produced several albums for charity, including “A Saratoga Christmas Wish,” which raised $70,000 for Make-A-Wish Northeast New York.
The Maple Avenue Musical Club put on a dress rehearsal this week in preparation for its upcoming production of “Frozen,” which will be performed on Jan. 30, Jan. 31, Feb. 6, and Feb. 7 at Maple Avenue Middle School’s Trombley Auditorium. The musical features a cast and crew of 66 students. Tickets can be purchased at gofan.co/app/school/NY82277. Photo by Rob Spring.
Tony Serrano is a local writer who runs the poetry platform “Love•Hate•Heal,” which highlights and promotes some of his work. Serrano shared with Saratoga TODAY his thoughts on all things poetry, as well as how his day job in Ballston Spa helps to keep his creative juices flowing.
Q: When did you create “Love•Hate•Heal” and why did you create it?
A: I’ve been writing poetry for as long as I can remember, from marble notebooks in middle school to Tumblr in high school. In 2019, “Love•Hate•Heal” was born as a way to give my emotions somewhere honest to live. The name reflects the cycle at the heart of the work: we experience love, we experience pain, and through both we learn how to heal.
Q: How does writing poetry benefit you personally, and how do you think an appreciation for poetry can benefit others?
A: Personally, poetry helps me slow down and understand what I’m feeling rather than pushing it aside. For others, poetry can act as a mirror, reminding them that even if a poem isn’t about their exact experience, their emotions are still valid.
Q: What is your day job, and does it help to support your poetry?
A: I’m a screen printer and manager at T-Shirt Graphics in Ballston Spa, where I’ve worked for nearly 13 years. The hands-on, creative nature of screen-printing—turning ideas into something physical—naturally supports my creativity and keeps me connected to the local community.
Q: Can you tell me about how your poetry is building a community?
A: Although “Love•Hate•Heal” only features my own work, it has created connection through shared emotion. Readers often reach out to say a poem resonated with them or put feelings into words they couldn’t express themselves. That exchange between writer and reader becomes its own kind of community, built on vulnerability, empathy, and understanding.
Q: What are some of your future plans or ambitions with poetry?
A: My main goal is to release a poetry book that brings the work from “Love•Hate•Heal” into a physical form. And given my background in screen-printing, I wouldn’t be surprised if a little poetry-themed merchandise finds its way into the mix as well.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The jam band Goose will perform at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on July 3 and 4, Live Nation announced on Monday.
The group will be accompanied by two notable acts in the jam band world: The Disco Biscuits (on July 3) and Moe (on July 4).
2026 will mark the third time Goose has appeared at SPAC, after one show in 2023 and two more shows in 2024. In June of 2025, the band sold out Madison Square Garden for the first time (they’re scheduled to play at MSG two more times this summer).
SPAC is an important venue for Goose. In 2013, the band’s keyboardist Peter Anspach attended a Phish concert in Saratoga, camping out on the lawn with thousands of fellow fans. A decade later, when Goose hit the SPAC stage for the first time, Anspach told the crowd that “some of us have seen a lot of shows on that lawn right there and I’ll tell you what, it feels great to be on the stage. So thank you so much for making it happen.”
In 2024, several members of the band stopped by the Saratoga Spa Golf Course prior to their SPAC shows for “Goose on the Green,” a sold-out charity event that raised $7,500 for Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga.
Goose has also played at Putnam Place in Saratoga, opening for the Ryan Montbleau Band in 2018.
Moe was originally formed in Buffalo but moved to Albany in 1994. In the book “Sharing in the Groove” by Mike Ayers, Moe drummer Vinnie Amico described the thrill of performing alongside surviving members of the Grateful Dead at SPAC on July 6, 1997.
“I’d seen hundreds of concerts [at SPAC],” Amico said. “And here I am on that stage for the first time, which was my dream when I was 16…I mean, I saw everybody there. And that was my dream to play on stage one day, and here I am playing on that stage with one of my idols. We did ‘That’s It for the Other One,’ which the Dead hadn’t played in years. Had my career gone no further than that day, I would have been fine. My dreams were realized.”
Marc Brownstein, a founding member and bass player for the Disco Biscuits, wrote in an Instagram story on Monday that SPAC was his childhood summertime home venue. “I saw three Phish shows there this summer. I’m so excited my next time there will be with a bass guitar and looking out at the crowd. Thanks, Goose.”
Tickets for Goose’s 2026 SPAC shows go on sale Friday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Springs’ new poet laureate Jay Rogoff will have a busy weekend after announcing two free poetry-related events both scheduled to take place on Sunday, Feb. 1.
At Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, three nationally-known poets will read their work at 3 p.m.: Chase Twichell, April Bernard, and Peg Boyers. The award-winning authors all live in the Spa City. The reading, which will occur in the museum’s Payne Room, is free and open to the public.
Twichell has published eight collections of poetry, with her ninth due later this year from Copper Canyon Press. Her 2010 book of new and selected poems, “Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been,” won the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Balcones Poetry Prize. She has also received grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Artists Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among others. Her most recent book is “Things as It Is.”
Bernard won the Academy of American Poets’ Walt Whitman Award for her debut book, “Blackbird Bye Bye.” Since then, she has published five poetry collections with W. W. Norton, most recently “The World Behind the World.” She has also published two novels and frequently contributes criticism to The New York Review of Books, Book Post, and elsewhere. Also a former Guggenheim Fellow, Bernard teaches at Skidmore College and is currently assembling a volume of new and selected poems.
Boyers’ four books include “Hard Bread,” “Honey and Tobacco,” “To Forget Venice,” and “The Album,” whose poems appear beside reproductions of the paintings that inspired them. She teaches poetry writing and translation at Skidmore, as well as at Columbia University and the New York State Summer Writers Institute. She is also the longtime executive editor of Salmagundi magazine.
“It’s rare to have three poets of such talent and variety at a single event,” Rogoff said. “This should be a must for anyone curious about how poetry moves us.”
The reading will include a question-and-answer session, followed by a book signing by the poets and a reception.
Earlier on Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Rogoff will meet with writers at his second Poetry Repair Café at the Northshire Bookstore. Poets can drop by to discuss how to bring their poems closer to what they wish them to accomplish.
Rogoff will be conducting his Poetry Repair Café the first Sunday of every month, except for Easter.
Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler images provided by Live Nation.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A heap of additions were made to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s (SPAC) calendar recently, including returning favorites the Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler, plus a free culinary arts program on March 7.
The Dave Matthews Band will play at SPAC on July 17 and 18, marking the group’s 50th headlining performance at the venue. According to Setlist.fm, DMB has held more concerts at SPAC than any other musical act, with Phish, Chicago, and the Allman Brothers Band each compiling more than 20 shows apiece.
Blues Traveler, headliners of the 2024 Belmont on Broadway event in downtown Saratoga Springs, will return to the Spa City on July 30 with two more familiar faces in tow: Gin Blossoms (Belmont on Broadway 2025 headliners) and Spin Doctors (headliners of Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga’s 2025 Charity Benefit).
Country artist Luke Bryan—with special guests Drew Baldridge, Lanie Gardner, Lauren Watkins, and DJ Rock—w-ill hit the SPAC stage on Aug. 29. Bryan is considered one of the world’s top-selling artists, dishing out more than 75 million records. He’s also a judge on the hit TV show “American Idol.”
On June 12, Les Claypool will present “Claypool Gold” at SPAC. The performance will bring together three of his bands: Primus, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, and Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. Each night, all three bands will share the stage at once for a show featuring “wildly different setlists and surprises,” Live Nation said in a press release.
Violinist Lindsey Stirling will bring her “Duality Untamed” tour to Saratoga on July 13. Stirling entered the national consciousness in 2010, when she was featured on season five of “America’s Got Talent.” Since then, she’s released a handful of albums and accumulated more than 14 million subscribers and billions of views on her YouTube channel. Stirling is known for her unique blend of classical, pop, and dance music.
SPAC also announced this week that it will host a special, free community program featuring culinary historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris, who is a James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame winner and the star of the Netflix docuseries “High on the Hog.” Presented as part of the CulinaryArts@SPAC initiative, “Braided Heritage: Tracing the Roots of American Cuisine” will take place on Saturday, March 7 from 3 to 5 p.m. at The Pines at SPAC. The event is free to attend; however, space is limited. Visit spac.org for details or to register.
Special effects makeup artist RJ Young applies his wares to a volunteer at Saratoga Arts during the Saratoga Film Showcase last weekend.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — It was disgusting. It was horrifying. It was a shocking display of violence that any sane person would hope to never see in their life. But the crowd loved it.
The Saratoga Film Showcase’s special effects panel and demonstration, held at Saratoga Arts on Jan. 24, was a highlight of the three-day festival.
The discussion about all things hair and makeup on film sets included Clifton Park resident Annemarie Bradley, an Oscar-winning hairstylist who has worked with Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Lucy Liu, among others; Jackie Hughes, a Hudson Valley-based makeup artist who specializes in horror films (among them, “Terrifier 2,” which earned nearly $16 million at the box office); and RJ Young, a special makeup effects artist from Upstate New York.
It was Young who both grossed out and delighted the audience with a live demonstration of his work (thankfully, the fake blood squirting out of his volunteer subject’s facial wound didn’t make it into the crowd).
Below is a condensed and edited transcript of the panel discussion, which included talk of everything from Lucy Liu’s latest project to a 16-foot-long flesh tunnel womb.
Spencer Sherry (moderator): What is something that you find that directors sometimes aren’t aware of, that maybe you would like them to have a little bit more knowledge of before they call you and ask you to do an effect?
Annemarie Bradley: How much time it actually takes… A lot of times, they wrote something, but they don’t exactly have a vision of how they want that to happen. So, when you tell them, ‘It’s okay, this is great, and we can make anything happen, but sometimes it takes a long time,’ and they don’t really have the time or want to make the time. So, a lot of communication goes into that. I always tell people, it’s like boiling water. Just because you want it doesn’t mean it’s going to boil right away.
SS: What are some things that are more expensive than people think that they are? And then what are some things that are maybe a little bit more accessible?
Blood and bubbles ooze during the special effects demonstration. Photos by Super Source Media for Saratoga TODAY.
RJ Young: Well, for example, the prosthetic that I have on [the volunteer subject’s] face is a foam latex piece. That’s usually a lot cheaper than, say, a lot of people now use silicone, which is a lot more translucent on the face. You don’t have to paint it as much in so many layers. But that is expensive. Silicone is a lot more expensive than foam latex. In the next month or so, I have to make a 16-foot-long flesh tunnel womb. The budget that they gave me is really low, not enough for what they want. They showed me an artist’s drawing of what they want. I’m like, well, the budget that you give me, you’re not going to get exactly that, by any means, but I try to make it out and make it as best as I can. I usually end up fabricating a lot of stuff out of foam, like the flesh tunnel would be mostly made out of foam and spray foam, mattress foam, stuff like that. And you just paint it and just add as much as you can to it, to make it look as organic as it can.
Jackie Hughes: I do a lot of low-budget things where I kind of get hired as the triple team of beauty, hair, makeup and effects. So that’s when they’re really trying to stretch a budget. But most of the time, I’m the first effects person that they’ve worked with. I was just recently on something, and I told them that blood is not cheap. Good blood is not cheap, especially if you want to spray it on everything and get it up and not have it stain… This production didn’t believe me. They showed up with a gallon of blood that was like 30 bucks when I told them I wanted a $200 gallon. And then I showed up with eight different types of my own personal blood, just to prove to them, you go use that and watch all of my expensive blood actually work. It’s things you don’t realize. Some blood has to be mouth safe. Some of it has to be safe if it gets in your eyes. Some has to dry. Some has to drip. Some has to come out of carpet.
SS: Where do you get your inspirations and pictures from?
JH: I have my friends and family, when they get injured, take pictures. People get really excited if you show up to a set and you’re like, ‘I have real reference pictures,’ they’ll always pull up some crazy gashed head thing that they did to themselves years ago. But Spencer’s favorite story that I’ve told is I was talking to a boy on Tinder, and he sliced his hand open at work. I was like, ‘Can you send me the picture?’ He did and then he stopped responding.
SS: Do [actors] call you when they book a job? Do they leverage that in their contract and say, ‘I’ll do a movie but I’m bringing Annemarie with me?’
AB: Yeah. I’m going to start a job with Lucy Liu that’s called “Superfakes” and it’s starting February 2 filming, and she asked me in August and invited me to come to her home and just talk about the movie and [she] wanted to make sure that I’m not busy or that I’m not going to take another job before that job happens. That’s normally how it happens. And if it’s someone new, it’s a recommendation from either another actor or a makeup artist that’s worked with them before, sometimes a producer.
SS: Is there anything that you haven’t gotten to play with yet or build, that you’re just waiting for someone out there to write a thing as an excuse to do it?
RJ: I would like to do a werewolf transformation at some point.
AB: I would like to do a really fun period piece. I could be the department head and design all the hair.
JH: I so badly want to break into sci-fi… I also want to make a mermaid tail.
James Taylor and Pitbull images provided by Live Nation.
60th anniversary artwork provided by SPAC.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — It’s been a busy fortnight for the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), which is gearing up for its historic 60th season.
James Taylor, a six-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, will take the SPAC stage alongside his All-Star Band on June 29, Live Nation recently announced. Taylor is perhaps best known for his originals “Fire and Rain” and “Sweet Baby James,” as well as his renditions of “You’ve Got a Friend” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).” His 1970 album “Sweet Baby James” nearly cracked the top 100 of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list. His eponymous debut album was released by The Beatles’ Apple Records, and its track “Something in the Way She Moves” inspired the creation of “Something” by The Beatles. Taylor’s latest record, “American Standard,” won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
Rapper Pitbull has sold more than 25 million studio albums worldwide and has amassed more than 15 billion views on YouTube, arguably making him one of the most popular musical acts on the planet. His debut album “M.I.A.M.I.,” released in 2024, was executive produced by Lil Jon, who will open for Pitbull during their joint SPAC performance on Sept. 2. Lil Jon’s hits “Get Low” and “Turn Down for What” have each garnered hundreds of millions of plays on Spotify (not to mention inspired countless meme videos).
SPAC also recently unveiled its official 2026 season artwork, designed by Shawn Carney (The New York Times Style Magazine, Wall Street Journal). As part of his creative process, Carney dug through SPAC’s archives, sifting through boxes and filing cabinets filled with thousands of items, such as newspaper clippings, booklets, ticket stubs, and posters.
“I wanted the artwork to acknowledge SPAC’s rich history without being a throwback,” Carney said. “After all, SPAC doesn’t just live in the archives—it’s very much alive today and flourishing in all sorts of new ways. Standing among the piles of paper however, it occurred to me that perhaps the illustration could be paper itself. That led to a more tactile approach, and I began sketching forms built from curled, hand-shaped sheets. The final design is intentionally tactile and handcrafted. My hope is that the artwork reflects the craft, labor, and human touch behind sixty seasons of live performance. It also highlights the subtle and poetic side of the venue and the experiences within its gates. The design feels classic and timeless, nods to SPAC’s history, but leaves open space for more of its future to be recorded.”
Additional announcements related to SPAC’s 60th anniversary season—including performances, special events, and commemorative initiatives—will be revealed throughout the year.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A pair of podcasts—one freshly launched and the other returning for a second season—announced their future plans last Friday, signaling a podcast production boom in the Spa City.
Saratoga Arts revealed that it’s partnering with Bright Sighted Media on “The Good Stuff,” a locally-produced podcast and video series dedicated to “uplifting the artists, organizations, and community leaders who make New York’s Capital Region thrive.”
The show will be hosted by producer and Bright Sighted Media Founder Christine O’Donnell, and guest hosted by Saratoga Arts’ Spencer Sherry.
“The Good Stuff” will share weekly, family-friendly stories rooted in creativity, kindness, and connection. The series aims to offer a “refreshing counterbalance to negative news cycles by highlighting the positive cultural and civic contributions happening right here in the 518.
O’Donnell, a 2004 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, said the idea for “The Good Stuff” came to her while she was watching her husband Steve Kuzj anchoring the News Channel 13 broadcast. O’Donnell and Kuzj have two young kids.
“I often want to turn on the news so the kids can see him; but almost every time I turn it on, I have to turn it off because there’s a lot on there that I don’t always want my kids to see,” O’Donnell said. “Still, I do want them to know what’s going on in their community, and I thought a community-based news show that incorporated students ‘doing good stuff’ would help me keep my kids informed and hopefully help them feel inspired.”
The show’s guest list includes the young men who made the viral “Take Me Down to Stewy’s” rap anthem; an interview with now-retired Saratoga Springs Police Department Mounted Officer Glenn Barret; and Saratoga Arts grant recipient and playwright Mary Jane Hansen. All guests will be nominated by members of the community, and episodes will be released every Tuesday starting Jan. 20.
In 2025, Bright Sighted Media reached 2.3 million impressions, the company stated. Its Q2 numbers showed 10,087 podcast downloads and 46,771 YouTube views.
In other podcasting news, Discover Saratoga announced the launch of Season 2 of its podcast, “Destination Saratoga: All Access,” which premiered on Jan. 16. New episodes will drop every Friday through April 24, continuing the show’s mission of “spotlighting the people, places, and stories that define Saratoga County as a vibrant, year-round destination.”
Hosted by Discover Saratoga’s MacKenzie Zarzycki, the podcast offers listeners a behind-the-scenes look at local businesses, cultural institutions, community leaders, and seasonal happenings throughout the county.
“Season 1 showed us how much people enjoy hearing authentic, long-form stories about Saratoga County,” Zarzycki said. “With Season 2, we’re building on that momentum by introducing even more voices, experiences, and perspectives that truly capture what makes our region so special.”
Last season featured conversations with notable guests, including Julie Bonacio, Alane Ball Chinian, Maddy Zanetti, Tom Durkin, and Ramon Dominguez. The show also featured an “After Hours with Saratoga Living” segment featuring magazine editor Natalie Moore. Discover Saratoga said it will continue its partnership with Saratoga Living in 2026.
“This season, we’ll be broadcasting our ‘After Hours with Saratoga Living’ episodes straight from two of our favorite after-hours hangouts: Henry Street Taproom and Kindred,” Moore said.
Season 2’s lineup of guests will include Amy Bloom of Saratoga Arts, Ryan McMahon from the Saratoga Springs City Center, Tracy Passaro of Ladylily’s Place, Allison D’Antonio from the Saratoga Regional YMCA, and Teddy Foster from the Universal Preservation Hall.
