Best Bets
Art by the Lake returns

After being cancelled in 2020 and delayed until Autumn this year, the Art by the Lake Festival celebrating local artists and Otsego Lake is finally going ahead. The outdoor festival will feature regional artists showing and selling in mediums from watercolor to sculpture, oil to pottery, photography, printmaking, and more. There will also be artist demonstrations, tastings from The Cooperstown Distillery and more. Come celebrate art and enjoy the fall colors on the lake. On the lawn at The Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2. For info: 607-547-1400 or fenimoreartmuseum.org.
•
Go to Foothills Performing Arts Center for the Fifth Annual Play It Forward concert.
This year will feature Ian Flannigan who was in the top three on NBC’s “The Voice,” has a top release with Blake Shelton, opened for country singer Trace Adkins, and is from Saugerties.
The Upstate musician will be back to his roots to perform, hang out, and be a part of the Play It Forward legacy.
Proceeds go to the Play It Forward Scholarship to be granted to two Oneonta students going into the music industry.
Tickets are $15/person. At Foothills Performing Arts Center, in Oneonta. At 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1. For info: 607-431-2080 or visit foothillspac.org.
•
Come see artwork by artists of Upstate New York. In Gallery A of the Art Association the Central New York Watercolor Society will be holding its annual Members Only Juried Exhibition.
Also on show will be the solo exhibit by wood artist Emilie Rigby.
Opening reception to be held at the Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main St. in Cooperstown from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 1. For info: 607-547-9777 or visit cooperstownart.com.
•
Get in the mood for the Halloween season with a theatrical production of “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson. Follow the twists and turns as John Montague investigates the psychic activity in the long empty house with the help of three young people. What happens as the house begins to affect them in this creepy and frightening show? Cost is $20/adult. At Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta. 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2, 8 and 9 and matinee shows at 2 p.m., Oct. 3 and 10. For info: biggerdreamsproductions.org/.
•
The SUNY Oneonta Planetarium is back. Stream a presentation about the night sky in Autumn, and learn about deep space through the lens of the Hubble space telescope. Join the SUNY Oneonta students and faculty to explore the universe. Registration required. Presented through Microsoft Teams by the A.J. Read Science Discovery Center, SUNY Oneonta. At 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1. For info: 607-436-2011 or visit eventbrite.com/o/science-discovery-center-and-planetarium-14332374215.
•
Come enjoy delicious baked goods and support a local fire department. At Hartwick Seminary Fire Department, 4877 State Route 28 in Hartwick Seminary from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 2.
•
Get ready for the winter reading season and support a local library. Kinney Memorial Library is sponsoring a community book sale at the Hartwick Community Center, 450 County Route 11 in Hartwick from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2. For info: 607-293-660.