FEST: The Flurry Takes Over Saratoga This Weekend

Photograph by Andrzej Pilarczyk

Get Happy Feet!

Yes, it used be called the Dance Flurry Festival, the Dance Flurry or the Flurry Festival, but these days, the name has officially been shortened to simply the Flurry. And, yes, the 30th annual Flurry is taking over Saratoga Springs this weekend.

Of course, you don’t have to love dancing in order to enjoy the Flurry. In fact, you can just sit back and listen to three days of nearly non-stop fabulous music without ever kicking up your heels.

Taking place at a wide assortment of venues throughout Saratoga Springs from Friday-Sunday (February 17-19), the fest is a marathon of music and dancing at 16 different locations around town – workshops, dance instruction, concerts, dance parties, storytelling, kids’ activities and lots, lots more. And, yes, there’s plenty of music from all around the globe, from the traditional to the contemporary.

There are gazillions of great things to do and see and hear at the Flurry. Here are just a few suggestions:

* ’50s Sock Hop with the Graham Tichy Trio (10:30pm Friday at City Center’s Meeting Room 1)

* Techno Contra Dance Party with VanNorstrand and the Buddy System (12midnight Friday at the Hilton’s Melita Ballroom)

* French Canadian Concert by Genticorum (at 12:20pm Saturday at Caffe Lena)

* Concert by Quickstep (at 1:15pm Saturday at the Parting Glass)

* Country Two-Step, Western Swing & Rockabilly Dance Party by the Stone Cold Roosters (5:45pm Saturday at City Center’s Meeting Room 2)

* Hot Dog!, a concert of Uncle Dave Macon songs and banjo licks by George Wilson (6:45pm Saturday at the Hilton’s Whitney Room)

* Late Night Tangos with Spare Parts (11:15pm Saturday at the Hilton’s Melita Ballroom)

* Americana concert by Jay Ungar & Molly Mason (2:15pm Sunday at the Hilton’s Broadway Room 1)

* The classic swing music of the Gordon Webster Swing Band (6pm Sunday at City Center’s Meeting Room 1)

So you can definitely have a great, great time at the Flurry without ever stepping onto the dance floor. But you’d better bring along your dancin’ shoes because chances are good that the music’s gonna move ya…

WHAT: THE FLURRY
WHERE: Various locations, Saratoga Springs
WHEN: Friday-Sunday February 17-19
WHO: Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Graham Tichy Band, Jesse Lége & Bayou Brew, Garland Nelson, Fennig’s All-Star String Band, George Wilson, Big Fez & the Surfmatics, Peter & Mary Alice Amidon, more
HOW MUCH: $100 full festival; various prices for individual sessions throughout the weekend

ADDITIONAL UPCOMING FESTIVALS:
THE BRIDGE JAZZ FESTIVAL @ Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy & the Massry Center for the Arts, Albany, February 24 & 25
A TASTE OF COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL @ Hunter Mountain, Hunter, June 9-11
MOUNTAIN JAM @ Hunter Mountain, Hunter, June 16-18
CLEARWATER’S GREAT HUDSON RIVER REVIVAL @ Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, June 17 & 18
SOLID SOUND @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, June 23-25
FREIHOFER’S SARATOGA JAZZ FESTIVAL @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, June 24 & 25
COUNTRYFEST 2017 @ Schaghticoke Fairgrounds, Schaghticoke, July 8