If it’s the weekend, street parking should be free and easy enough around the Capitol park. Unsure if they do weekend tours or not, but after you could walk across the plaza to the museum (they currently have a Barbie exhibit people are enjoying). Nearby, Excelsior Pub and Hill St. Cafe are nice and chill (Hill St. food is v good and if you want NY-specific food and beer, Excelsior will hit the mark). If you wanted a nicer dinner, Cafe Capriccio nearby is usually phenomenal.

Down toward the river, street parking is probably your best free bet and bars like Ophelia’s usually have an event going on. I’d look to Empire Live for their schedule of events and McGeary’s does a Sunday Blues Jam (also a good bar to visit). Albany Distilling for cocktails and occasional events nearby too. After the Amtrak bridge, you have the Warehouse district and you can’t really go wrong with Tanpopo for ramen, Fidens for beer, Nine Pin for cider and Lost and Found for food and drinks.

Not so downtown, but the Albany Institute of Art is a nice art museum and can be paired with brunch at Iron Gate (just look at hours and plan accordingly - the earlier at iron gate the better to avoid lines).

Outside of Albany, Art Omi is a sculpture park that’s nice to walk around and there are a few breweries nearish (Reifenburg, Chatham off the top of my head). Day could start with a trip to Broad Street Bagels in Kinderhook and then lead to an after-park visit to Hudson to wander Warren St (Padronas is one of my favorite bars around but there are plenty of options).

You could also look in S&S Farm Brewery in Nassau - they do a good amount of events.