October ending with a busy weekend in the Albany area

ALBANY — October tends to get busier as the month goes on, and there’s no shortage of things to do this final weekend leading into Halloween, the inspiration for a number of them.

The Albany Symphony Orchestra opens its performance season, Swamp Gravy wraps up a month of performances and strange little creatures will be vying for prizes and enjoying ghoulish fun over the coming few days.

Here’s a look at the events related to Halloween, as well as those that aren’t.

FRIDAY

The weekend gets off to a suitably creepy start with the annual Tricks and Treats 5 p.m.-7 p.m. at Flint RiverQuarium and Thronateeska Heritage Center, both in downtown Albany. Events include a costume contest that’s also good for a break on admission, which is $6 instead of $8 if you’re in costume. Admission is good for both venues and is free to RiverQuarium, 105 Pine Ave., and Thronateeska, 100 W. Roosevelt Ave., members.

The Albany Area YMCA has its Week O’ Ween activities going 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday, Saturday and — after a break on Sunday — Monday and Halloween, all at the Albany YMCA Sports Park, 4508 Gillionville Road. The Y gets started an hour earlier at 6 p.m. Saturday for its “Spooktacular Saturday” that includes ghoulish games and a costume contest at 6 p.m., with the haunted house and hay ride starting at the usual 7 p.m. Admission is $13, child punch card; and $7, adult punch card with child card purchase. Haunted house admission is $3 for child and $5 for an adult, with those same admission rates for the haunted hay ride.

About 40 miles north in Americus, the second Mini Moller Monster Movie will feature the the 1922 silent classic horror film “Nosferatu” at 8 p.m. at the Rylander Theatre, 310 W. Lamar St. The creepy feature, which will be preceded by a comedy short, will be accompanied in 1920s fashion by Atlanta organist Ron Carter playing the Rylander’s 1928 Moller Theatre Pipe Organ. Tickets are $9-$14. Contact the box office at (229) 931-0001 or visit rylander.org.

For those who want to take in some live theater, the Baldwin Players in Tifton will perform “Greater Tuna” at 7 p.m. at Howard Auditorium on the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College campus. Tickets are $10 at the door and free to ABAC faculty, staff and students. A performance also is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday.

Meanwhile, Swamp Gravy will be wrapping up the first half of its silver anniversary production “Swamp Gravy: Listen Here” with curtain times of 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday at Cotton Hall, 158 E. Main St., Colquitt. Tickets are $22 and are available at swampgravy.com. Contact (229) 758-5450.

For music lovers, options include the Moultrie Staggerwing Country Jamboree 7 p.m.-11 p.m. next door to the Sunbelt Ag Expo just south of Moultrie, American Legion Post 30’s bimonthly dinner and dance is at 6:30 p.m. at the Albany post, located at 2916 Gillionville Road, and the VFW’s weekly 8:30 p.m.-midnight dance at Post 2785, 312 Philema Road.

SATURDAY

Early risers can grab a pancake breakfast for $5 from 7 a.m.-10:30 a.m. at American Legion Post 30, then head over to Tift Park Community Market for the last Saturday of the season 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature appeared to be in more of a trick mood than a treat one for Saturday. On Thursday, the National Weather Service forecast was a rainy and breezy one. The chance for showers and even thunderstorms was around 70 percent, mostly between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Trick-or-Treat in the Village is 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the ABAC Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village in Tifton, where activities include face-painting, apple-bobbing, hay rides, and interactive activities in the Historic Village. Admission is $10, adults; $8, seniors; $5, 5-16; free, children 4 and younger.

Chehaw hosts its Spooktacular at Chehaw 10 a.m.-2 p.m., including a costume contest at 1 p.m. The park, located at 105 Chehaw Park Road, will have Halloween-themed games, face-painting, cookie-decorating, special Halloween animal enrichment, prizes and candy.

While that’s going on, Chehaw also will be the site for the all-day Flint River Blues and BBQ Festival, which gets underway at 8 a.m. The event will feature Mississippi blues guitarist Zac Harmon, along with several local and regional acts. Tickets can be purchased at the Chehaw gate for $20 and are $15 if purchased in advance. Contact (229) 344-9847 or visit www.flintriverbluesandbbq.com.

Also, an all-day arts and crafts event will be conducted at the downtown square in Colquitt. Called Bless Your Art, the event is being conducted in conjunction with Swamp Gravy.

Organizers say the STEAM-a-Palooza, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Illuzions Dance Studio, 148 W. Broad Ave., brings an unusual twist to trick-or-treating. (STEAM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.) Conducted by Balancing the Equation 21st Century Learning and Kiddie University, activities will include coding competition, forensic science investigations, ArtBots, building cars, ghost rockets, dry ice, pumpkins, gooey slime and candy corn towers. The cost is $20. Visit the organization’s website at balancingtheequation.org.

The Albany Symphony Orchestra opens its 2017-18 season at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Municipal Auditorium, 200 N. Jackson St., with its Paul Peach Masterworks Concert. The Albany Symphony’s program will feature Latin-infused works and emphasize percussive sounds, taking advantage of new percussion instruments the ASO purchased that arrived this week. The music includes pieces from “Carmen” and “West Side Story.” Learn about the music by arriving at 6:30 p.m. for a pre-concert discussion with Conductor Claire Fox Hillard, which is free with concert admission. Tickets are $10-$35 and are available at albanysymphony.com or contact (229) 430-8933.

Meanwhile, the weekly Pelham Country Jamboree is 5 p.m.-11 p.m. at 153 W. Railroad St., Pelham.

And for those who prefer to take to the dance floor, ballroom dancing is 7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. at the Hasan Temple ballroom on Palmyra Road in Albany, where the attire is dressy casual and admission is $10 per person.