Rochester news

• Trump defends COVID vaccine booster

  24-12-2021 14:11
  
  Former President Donald Trump revealed he got the COVID-19 booster and also backed the effectiveness of it.
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Hard Candy for Hard Times’ by Handsy Grandma

  28-07-2026 19:11 via roccitymag.com
  
  Listeners who gravitate toward punk rock, fast-paced music that makes them jump as well as engaging messaging will feel a sense of belonging with Handsy Grandma. The band’s “Hard Candy for Hard Times,” available July 24, brings all the energy with 16 dynamic tracks ready to pump up listeners for the heat of summer. The Rochester-based trio with an unforgettable name made their first debut back in 2025 with the EP “Sweaty and Weird.” Relatively new to the scene
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Brutalist’ by Andrew Cloninger

  27-07-2026 05:09 via roccitymag.com
  
  There is a lot to process on Andrew Cloninger’s new album, “Brutalist.” Processing, in fact, could serve as the guiding concept behind the album. Song titles like “Archive” and “Field Notes” suggest raw sonic material of various sorts underwent a careful process of refinement, sifting or even distilling.Instead of clean, repeatable melodies and chord progressions propelling songs forward, the Canandaigua artist lets simple melodic fragments, riffs and d
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Brutalist’ by Andrew Cloninger

  27-07-2026 05:09 via roccitymag.com
  
  There is a lot to process on Andrew Cloninger’s new album, “Brutalist.” Processing, in fact, could serve as the guiding concept behind the album. Song titles like “Archive” and “Field Notes” suggest raw sonic material of various sorts underwent a careful process of refinement, sifting or even distilling.Instead of clean, repeatable melodies and chord progressions propelling songs forward, the Canandaigua artist lets simple melodic fragments, riffs and d
  
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• Review | ‘The Big Cheese’

  24-07-2026 14:43 via roccitymag.com
  
  American cheesemongers have a chip on their shoulders. It’s not entirely unwarranted. American cheese (the category) is fairly young, all things considered, gaining traction only in the 1970s, and is often conflated with the giant bricks of yellowish-orange American cheese (the product) found in grocery stores across the country. “The Big Cheese,” a new documentary from director Sara Joe Wolansky (a former video producer for “The New Yorker”), looks to course-
  
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• Review | ‘The Big Cheese’

  24-07-2026 14:43 via roccitymag.com
  
  American cheesemongers have a chip on their shoulders. It’s not entirely unwarranted. American cheese (the category) is fairly young, all things considered, gaining traction only in the 1970s, and is often conflated with the giant bricks of yellowish-orange American cheese (the product) found in grocery stores across the country. “The Big Cheese,” a new documentary from director Sara Joe Wolansky (a former video producer for “The New Yorker”), looks to course-
  
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• The nation’s first founding farm animal sanctuary marks 40 years in Watkins Glen

  23-07-2026 18:22 via roccitymag.com
  
  It’s 1986, and Gene Baur is selling vegan hotdogs at Grateful Dead shows. Surrounded by the sounds of Jerry Garcia and company, Baur spends his time educating fellow “Deadheads” about the cruelties of animal agriculture, providing firsthand accounts from his investigations at factory farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses. Then Baur finds Hilda, a discarded sheep left for dead at a stockyard in Pennsylvania. What started as Baur’s act of compassion to save Hilda&rsqu
  
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• The nation’s first founding farm animal sanctuary marks 40 years in Watkins Glen

  23-07-2026 18:22 via roccitymag.com
  
  It’s 1986, and Gene Baur is selling vegan hotdogs at Grateful Dead shows. Surrounded by the sounds of Jerry Garcia and company, Baur spends his time educating fellow “Deadheads” about the cruelties of animal agriculture, providing firsthand accounts from his investigations at factory farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses. Then Baur finds Hilda, a discarded sheep left for dead at a stockyard in Pennsylvania. What started as Baur’s act of compassion to save Hilda&rsqu
  
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• The Witches of Water’s Edge dance to benefit others

  22-07-2026 17:30 via roccitymag.com
  
  It’s a Wednesday night in Seneca Falls, and a group of women prepares for another busy weekend of performances. In a few days, they’ll don pointy hats, grab their broomsticks and dance into their roles as modern-day witches. But they aren’t just dancing for spectacle —- they’re raising awareness. The Witches of the Water’s Edge, a volunteer dance troupe that started recruiting members in March, uses performance, community and creative expression to estab
  
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• The Witches of Water’s Edge dance to benefit others

  22-07-2026 17:30 via roccitymag.com
  
  It’s a Wednesday night in Seneca Falls, and a group of women prepares for another busy weekend of performances. In a few days, they’ll don pointy hats, grab their broomsticks and dance into their roles as modern-day witches. But they aren’t just dancing for spectacle —- they’re raising awareness. The Witches of the Water’s Edge, a volunteer dance troupe that started recruiting members in March, uses performance, community and creative expression to estab
  
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• Trillium to issue refunds after Rochester Pride Festival cancellation

  21-07-2026 15:56 via wxxinews.org
  
  The post Trillium to issue refunds after Rochester Pride Festival cancellation appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• Trillium to issue refunds after Rochester Pride Festival cancellation

  21-07-2026 15:56 via wxxinews.org
  
  The post Trillium to issue refunds after Rochester Pride Festival cancellation appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• How a struggling Lima pub became a blues haven

  20-07-2026 07:09 via roccitymag.com
  
  On a quiet stretch where Routes 5 & 20 cut through Lima, there’s a low-slung building that doesn’t call much attention to itself. You could pass it without realizing that, on certain nights, it becomes one of the most intimate blues rooms in the Northeast. Inside Fanatics Pub, something unlikely has been unfolding — steady, unflashy and deeply human.Jim Shelly didn’t set out to build a blues destination. He didn’t even grow up on the blues.“I was into pro
  
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• How a struggling Lima pub became a blues haven

  20-07-2026 07:09 via roccitymag.com
  
  On a quiet stretch where Routes 5 & 20 cut through Lima, there’s a low-slung building that doesn’t call much attention to itself. You could pass it without realizing that, on certain nights, it becomes one of the most intimate blues rooms in the Northeast. Inside Fanatics Pub, something unlikely has been unfolding — steady, unflashy and deeply human.Jim Shelly didn’t set out to build a blues destination. He didn’t even grow up on the blues.“I was into pro
  
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• REVIEW | ‘The Odyssey’

  17-07-2026 17:29 via roccitymag.com
  
  “Is Christopher Nolan Catholic?”
  That’s the first thing I Googled upon exiting “The Odyssey.”As a director, Nolan has built a filmography around tortured men: atomic-bomb patriarch J. Robert Oppenheimer; dream wanderer Dom Cobb in “Inception;” marooned Joseph Cooper in “Interstellar.” But Nolan’s latest protagonist, the Greek hero Odysseus, endures a barrage of suffering so relentless (and often self-directed), I half-expected an actua
  
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• REVIEW | ‘The Odyssey’

  17-07-2026 17:29 via roccitymag.com
  
  “Is Christopher Nolan Catholic?” That’s the first thing I googled upon exiting “The Odyssey.”As a director, Nolan has built a filmography around tortured men: atomic-bomb patriarch J. Robert Oppenheimer, “Inception”’s dream wanderer Dom Cobb, “Interstellar”’s marooned Joseph Cooper. But Nolan’s latest protagonist, the Greek hero Odysseus, endures a barrage of suffering so relentless (and often self-directed), I half-expecte
  
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• The veteran-owned Rainbow Cammo is a gathering place for the queer community

  16-07-2026 18:31 via roccitymag.com
  
  During the pandemic, Malcolm Keim was making soap in about 200 square feet of basement space. What began as a hobby, sparked in part by a college assignment illustrating scientific concepts through soapmaking, gradually grew into something larger. Artist markets led to a website. A website led to appearances at the Rochester Pride Festival.“It was a pleasant surprise to see such a community pop up around it,” said Keim, a Marine Corps veteran who served during the final years of &ls
  
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• The veteran-owned Rainbow Cammo is a gathering place for the queer community

  16-07-2026 18:31 via roccitymag.com
  
  During the pandemic, Malcolm Keim was making soap in about 200 square feet of basement space. What began as a hobby, sparked in part by a college assignment illustrating scientific concepts through soapmaking, gradually grew into something larger. Artist markets led to a website. A website led to appearances at the Rochester Pride Festival.“It was a pleasant surprise to see such a community pop up around it,” said Keim, a Marine Corps veteran who served during the final years of &ls
  
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• ‘Circus in the City’ anchors Rochester Fringe Festival 2026 lineup

  14-07-2026 21:37 via roccitymag.com
  
  There can be no ESL Rochester Fringe Festival without the Spiegeltent, the signature mirrored hall that houses many of its shows. Indeed, the Spiegeltent will return for the fest in September.But this year’s Fringe also brings a slew of outdoor acrobatics, trapeze and aerial arts performances to downtown venues like Parcel 5 and Gibbs Street, organizers announced this week. The program is called “Circus in the City,” and it’s part of the 715 performances Fringe will offe
  
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• ‘Circus in the City’ anchors Rochester Fringe Festival 2026 lineup

  14-07-2026 21:37 via roccitymag.com
  
  There can be no ESL Rochester Fringe Festival without the Spiegeltent, the signature mirrored hall that houses many of its shows. Indeed, the Spiegeltent will return for the fest in September.But this year’s Fringe also brings a slew of outdoor acrobatics, trapeze and aerial arts performances to downtown venues like Parcel 5 and Gibbs Street, organizers announced this week. The program is called “Circus in the City,” and it’s part of the 715 performances Fringe will offe
  
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• Local radio show ‘Rainbow Roc’ celebrates 10 years of proud LGBTQ+ advocacy

  13-07-2026 06:03 via roccitymag.com
  When Brian Hurlburt applied to host a radio show on low-power community broadcaster WAYO-FM, the station didn’t technically exist yet. This was 2015, and organizers were still laying cables and installing power racks before launching. Hurlburt wanted in.He’d worked in radio before, hosting a show in Batavia, and he dreamed of returning to the microphone with a purpose.“I had a desire to get LGBTQ+ views out into our community,” Hurlburt said. “I heard about this st
  
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• Local radio show ‘Rainbow Roc’ celebrates 10 years of proud LGBTQ+ advocacy

  13-07-2026 06:03 via roccitymag.com
  
  When Brian Hurlburt applied to host a radio show on low-power community broadcaster WAYO-FM, the station didn’t technically exist yet. This was 2015, and organizers were still laying cables and installing power racks before launching. Hurlburt wanted in.He’d worked in radio before, hosting a show in Batavia, and he dreamed of returning to the microphone with a purpose.“I had a desire to get LGBTQ+ views out into our community,” Hurlburt said. “I heard about this st
  
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• Review | ‘The Invite’

  11-07-2026 16:36 via roccitymag.com
  The latest directorial effort from Olivia Wilde (“Booksmart,” “Don’t Worry, Darling”) pulls off, with great success, something that few recent films with similar pedigrees — smaller, successful distributor; A-list cast; hybrid genre — have managed: actual humor amidst emotional stakes. It helps that Wilde helmed one of the best, if underrated, teen comedies of the last 10 years — 2019’s “Booksmart” deftly maneuvered through
  
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• REVIEW | ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ at Highland Bowl

  10-07-2026 18:32 via roccitymag.com
  
  In the era of AI slop and bot accounts, it’s easy to be nostalgic for the Internet of yore — somewhere around 2015, before courts were weighing the damage social media companies have done to youth and when influencers were still somewhat novel. That long-ago year is the setting for a phone-obsessed “The Taming of the Shrew,” playing through July 25 at Highland Bowl; this production marks the 29th year Rochester Community Players has presented Shakespeare in the Park.The
  
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• Three Finger Lakes ice cream shops bringing the heat

  10-07-2026 05:54 via roccitymag.com
  
  Milk, cheese, yogurt, artisanal ice cream: while the Finger Lakes may be lesser known for its dairy production, the region is a quiet cornerstone in New York’s lactose industry. During the summer months especially, ice creameries boom, from classic mom-and-pop shops to artisanal makers that specialize in unique styles and flavors. CITY visited three creameries providing unique experiences that highlight the Finger Lakes.Cayuga Lake Creamery8421 State Rt. 89, Interlaken | 215 Nor
  
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• The Finger Lakes 411: a historical primer on Rochester’s sister region

  09-07-2026 07:20 via roccitymag.com
  
  Since the height of the pandemic in 2020, the central region of New York State has experienced a significantly renewed interest as an area in which to vacation, relax, explore and relocate from distant visitors and New Yorkers alike. For those of us who grew up around the lakes and casually claim one as our own (like we do with our most frequented Wegmans location), it may seem strange when visitors so revere that which we take for granted. The Finger Lakes have hosted human activity across cul
  
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• Paul Perrotto to lead Smith Center for the Arts during search for new director

  08-07-2026 07:21 via wxxinews.org
  
  The post Paul Perrotto to lead Smith Center for the Arts during search for new director appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture..
  
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• REVIEW | ‘Camp’

  02-07-2026 14:22 via roccitymag.com
  
  Campgrounds have been a key location for horror movies throughout film history. There’s something about that specific type of location that brings teenagers — in the midst of their coming-of-age — together and allows whatever inhibitions they may have at that point in their lives to run free. But, of course, something is always lurking beyond the shadows.“CAMP,”  written and directed by Avalon Fast, is a different kind of horror movie set at a camp. For catalo
  
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• Dear Maggie: How do I encourage my daughter to take better care of herself?

  01-07-2026 20:59 via roccitymag.com
  
  Dear Maggie, How can I talk to my adult daughter about being more put together and taking better care of herself without making her defensive? She’s always been somewhat messy and unkempt. As a teen, it was clutter and piles of clothes everywhere, and now it’s wrinkled outfits, disorganization and often looking rushed or thrown together. Whenever I gently bring it up or encourage better habits, she gets irritated and shuts down. I worry about how it affects her daily life, rela
  
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• Eastman School’s 2026-27 concerts include Timothy Long’s Indigenous songbook, Chris Thile, Aoife O’Donovan and more

  01-07-2026 16:58 via roccitymag.com
  
  The Eastman School of Music has announced its concerts for the next school year. The new season includes student performances and a few guest stars.The celebration of America at 250 will be woven throughout the next year of concerts at Eastman in performances by students, faculty and visiting artists.Those concerts include “The North American Indigenous Songbook,” a new collection of music by Native American, First Nations and Métis artists. The collection was commissioned an
  
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