By Wendy Liberatore, Staff Writer  |  Times Union

The battle and the surrender marked the turning point in the war for freedom. And as county Historian Lauren Roberts put it, the battle “was felt around the world; it cemented the Franco-American alliance, instilled confidence in a floundering army and set into motion the global conflict that would ultimately lead to the British defeat at Yorktown.”

The events, which are being cast as the countdown to the battle’s 250th anniversary next year, will begin this Saturday and Sunday with Schuylerville’s Saratoga Siege Living History Weekend. The two-day event in Fort Hardy Park will include storytelling, music and demonstrations, including 18th-century firearms, food preparation, clothing and medicine. It will also feature an outdoor screening of the film version of the musical “Hamilton” on Saturday evening at the Saratoga National Historical Park.

The 2026 events will continue through November and will include candlelight tours of Philip Schuyler’s home in Schuylerville, a surrender day ceremony in Victory Mills, a concert of 18th-century music by Musicians of Ma’alwyck and history lectures at the battlefield.

It will culminate in 2027 with the staging of a two-day reenactment of the Battle of Saratoga on the very fields where the struggle took place, the Turning Point parade in Schuylerville and a yet-to-be-announced October concert at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Roberts said most of America already celebrated the country’s 250th this year by remembering the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“In Saratoga County, we like to say that was just the beginning,” she said. “We are forging ahead to tell the rest of the story.”

For this region, she said, it started in September 1777 when British Gen. John Burgoyne was marching his soldiers to Albany, with an eye on capturing the city.