Happy Fourth of July weekend! I’m sure everyone will enjoy the long weekend with friends and family on the Lake. You can even have a weekend full of fireworks, if you want!

Tonight they are at the Great Escape, tomorrow they’re at Ski Bowl Park in North Creek – from 1 in the afternoon though the fireworks in the evening, along with fun, games and food for the whole family. Sunday there will be fireworks in Glens Falls at East Field with a great musical lineup for entertainment all night – ‘doors’ open at 4:30. There will also be fireworks in Hauge at dusk, and we hear the best view will be at the beach. And the King of all fireworks – Independence day itself – there will be fireworks and celebrations in Bolton Landing, Glens Falls and Lake George – and I’m sure there will be more.

The celebration in Bolton Landing will be at Rogers Memorial Park from 7 to 10 PM – and feel like a kid again with face paint and a magician! The Glens Falls Fourth extravaganza will have fireworks (again) but this time the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra will be playing in Crandall Park from 7 to 9 to go along with the fireworks. Here in Lake George, there will be fireworks from about 9:30 to 10:30 PM – the best views are probably from Shepard Park and Million Dollar Beach.

If you’re seeing the after-images of fireworks behind your eyes and don’t want to see fireworks all weekend, there is quite a bit to do otherwise. Rob Beaulieu and Council Fire will be playing tonight at 7 at Shepard Park – free, as usual. There’s also a new romantic comedy beginning running this weekend at the Lake George Forum – called “The Servant of Two Masters.”

Saturday is the first annual Lake George paranormal expo over the weekend at Fort William Henry. If you choose to take a gander and hear about the things that go bump in the night, there is a ticket fee and the day starts at 10. The days are about fun and learning, and who knows, maybe you’ll run into a ghost in the halls of the fort!

While dead, I don’t believe Shakespeare is a ghost – though his works do live on. Sunday brings the opening of the Adirondack Theater Company’s Complete Works of William Shakespeare in Shepard Park. I would bring your own seating – and probably some food as well. Even abridged, the complete works of Shakespeare cannot be short.

After the frenzy of the Fourth, relax and take a listen to the Stony Creek Band at Rogers Memorial Park in Bolton Landing, or enjoy a Tuesday Tribute to Across the Pond and Elvis at Shepard Park. For a different kind of enjoyment, the New York City Ballet opens at SPAC on Tuesday as well.

Perhaps one of the biggest concerts coming up for Lake George is the kickoff of the summer concert series on Wednesday the 6^th with the Chris O’Leary Band at Shepard Park. A crowd-pleaser for sure, the Chris O’Leary Band is a “roots and blues band from the Hudson Valley.” If you want to enjoy the outdoors, but don’t want to listen to the music, why not curl up in the dark and watch a movie at Rogers’ Memorial Park in Bolton Landing? It’s at 8:30, but you’re going to have to bring your own seats…and maybe some popcorn.

Thursday brings a new addition to the ATF in Glens Falls – called “Shooting Star” – it’s about college sweethearts who reunite at an airport after 25 years. I’m sure it will be touching and cute, a romantic comedy off the silver screen.

Am I right, or am I right? There is definitely a lot going on this weekend and coming week, beyond even the standard Fourth of July celebrations. Music, dance, theater – it’s all going on this coming week. So enjoy the celebratory fireworks and the summer nights; relax and take in everything Lake George has to offer.