Above: A scene from Tannersville's Crazy Race, an annual Main Street tradition gearing up for its sixth run this weekend.

The trout are running, the weather is glorious, and the last weekend in July is packed from one end to the other with Catskills festivities of all stripes, most of them free. Whether it's an old-timey fair, a bash for the local library, or an excuse to throw a big Main Street block party, odds are this weekend has something in store for you.

DELAWARE COUNTY 

"Dancers," by Halcottsville artist Alix H. Travis, one of 25 artists in eastern Delaware County who will be opening their studios to the public for the Andes/Margaretville/Roxbury Open Studios and public art tour this weekend.

Delhi's Fair on the Square
Every Friday in July, Delhi's village square comes alive for Fair On The Square, with vendors, crafts and games, live music, and a color guard presentation. If you haven't caught one yet, Friday's your last chance til the fair rolls back around in 2014.
Friday, July 26, 5pm-9:30pm. Delhi Village Square. Free admission.

Hobart Horseshoe Festival
Horseshoes are the main event at this annual shindig, which draws dedicated pitchers from miles around. But there's plenty to do for non-horseshoe-enthusiasts: Vendors, children's games, live music by the Whiskey Cross Band, and fireworks after dark.  
Saturday, July 27, 10am-4pm. Hobart Community Center Park. Free admission; $15 registration for players.

Above: Taking the plunge at Fawn's Leap, a popular swimming hole on Kaaterskill Creek. It's not uncommon for a few of those who brave the 24-foot drop from the cliff each summer to end up with serious injuries -- so if you must leap, leap with care. Photo taken in June by Timothy Schubert; published under Creative Commons license.

The weather's been acting more properly Catskillian lately. Nighttime lows in the 40s? Welcome to July in the mountains.

It's blueberry season in the Catskills, as this recent Delaware County crop can attest. Photo by the folks at Maple Shade Farm, who run stands in Margaretville and Franklin as well as on their 200-acre farm in Delhi.

Above: Kevin and Donovan Monahan of Big Kev's BBQ. Since 2010, the brothers have been slinging barbecue on the road and at local festivals. Last Friday, Big Kev's celebrated the opening of a new roadside stand in White Lake, on the corner of Royce Road and Route 17b. If you're jonesing for ribs, pulled pork, brisket or chicken, they're open Wednesday through Sunday from May to November. Call ahead, and they'll set aside your order: Big Kev's regularly sells out.

Today is Neptunalia, an obscure ancient Roman holiday celebrating the god of waters. To ensure rainfall in the coming season, the historians tell us, Romans would take to the countryside and spend the day picnicking under laurel-branch huts, drinking wine and spring water. We're down with that program.

Above: Rip Van Winkle awakening from his twenty-year nap. The eight-ton sculpture on Hunter Mountain, carved from native bluestone, is the work of stone sculptor Keven VanHentenryck, who worked on Rip for 14 years before finishing him in 2009. VanHentenryck will be teaching free drop-in classes in stone carving from July 29 through August 10 in a park on Route 23A near the Hunter town hall.