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The Coast | News, events, restaurants, concerts and Burger Week for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Home of the Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Awards, the award-winning independent newspaper covers the Halifax news, politics, events, concerts, movies, restaurants, and nightlife scene.
[Image-1] I have been biking the full extent of the Hollis street bike lane several times a week around noontime and at the end of my work day; there are always vehicles parked in the lane and I counted 10 vehicles in one instance. I don’t know if the drivers do not understand that it…
“Hey, I have an idea: Let’s make go-time even less user friendly!” “But how?” “Simple, use an even less human-sounding voice that is clearly recorded through a tin-can phone. Also, every sign number is routed to a single number, where you then have to reenter the number you just fucking dialed!” “You’re doing the lord’s…
To all the emotionally unavailable and love-avoidant grown-ass men out there: it’s time to grow up. I’m tired of your “get close then run away” dance, then come back but don’t have the balls to see it through. You’re going to end up alone and miserable, with no one to look after you in your old…
[Image-1] I’m glad you didn’t think I was weird. “I love your photography and follow you on Instagram!” I said. You were so kind, you chatted with me and I felt special that this Halifamous person was wanting to know more about me. You really are as nice as they say. Thanks! —A Shy Fan
12. Green/Environmental › Halifax Seed Celebrates 150 Years. Friday, June 3-Saturday June 4. Halifax Seed celebrates 150 years in business with a two-day birthday party full of workshops, demos, snacks and cake. 11. Summer Festivals › 10th Annual Lebanese Cedar Festival. Thursday, June 2-Sunday, June 5. The Lebanese Cedar Festival is four full days of Lebanese food, music, church tours,…
[Image-1] My thanks to the city and particularly my neighbours for saving us all from a north end beer garden. Have you seen what they are doing on Spring Garden? It’s going to be like Barcelona down there. Tiny tables and parasols and people having conversations in the sun as they watch the crowds wander…
I live next to Cornwallis Park, and walk my dog through it daily on the way to the waterfront. One can’t help but notice the red paint splattered on the paving stones. Then again, since I heard about the atrocities Cornwallis committed—bounties on the scalps of Mi’kmaw children and the expulsion of the Acadians—it is…
[Image-1] Me: volunteer. You: doctor(?). I miss saying hello to you every Thursday when you got coffee. I wish I had gotten your name and hope you’re doing well. —Redhead in a Red Vest
The 10th annual Lebanese Cedar Festival kicks off its four-day stretch today and you’re cordially invited, free of charge. “Lebanese are known for their hospitality and their welcoming attitude. We really work hard to ensure that anybody who attends our festival, whether they are regular visitors, or someone visiting for the first time, feels at…
Dearest readers—we need you and your many opinions. And not in the comments section this time. As of today, it’s officially Best of Halifax season. You know, the other election everyone’s going to be talking about. For the 22nd year running we’re picking your brains to declare out the city’s favourite restaurants, shops, bands, people…
I’m fucking tired of going into “elite hardware stores” and the hick ass fuck face employees deciding “They don’t like the looks of this one” because I don’t dress like a fucking yokel. I AM TRYING TO BUY SHIT FROM YOU FOR MONEY; TAKE MY MONEY IN EXCHANGE FOR THE ITEM I REQUIRE, AND SHUT…
I’ve been the subject of ten years of Domestic Violence in the form of weapons threats, extortion, theft, sabotage and harassment, all of which has been reported to both Police and RCMP. But they refuse to take any action to protect my interests, possessions and person. Meanwhile I’ve not retaliated and I’m trying to keep…
[Image-1] You are the only neighbors that have a problem with me and my partner. Sometimes I wonder what makes you so miserable. I think I can count on one hand the encounters we have had where you said something positive. Almost every time we have talked you complained about something or someone. You have…
[Image-1] Thanks so very much to the two young ladies who came to my rescue early last December. I literally could not move without experiencing horrible pain. I was stuck: no cell,pay phones too far away. I was not far from a fast food joint,between two malls,out in the west end of Halifax—and very,very stuck.…
[Image-1] Despite his claims to the contrary, not all of Matt Whitman’s constituents are happy with how he conducts himself online. The deputy mayor and councillor for Hammonds Plains—St. Margarets has made a habit out of saying things he probably shouldn’t. He’s casually mentioned confidential information over the radio, cracked jokes maligning residents and been…
[Image-1] We need to start turning people away from the Emergency Room. Stubbed toes, runny noses and headaches are for drop-in clinics. I watched a man and his wife drive in; he drove – she must be the one right? Nope, he registers. A woman is on the phone stating she is in “excruciating pain”…
Dingle Park, long weekend, hundreds of people, families with little kids enjoying (the only) sunny day. Washroom out of service all day! Seriously HRM?? Many people (including pregnant women) went for walk to the nearest bushes as alternative. Happy Victoria Day forest… —Needed to Pee
One has to wonder the thought process of Halifax water commission. Who there determines where the rain is going to fall, and when is interesting So given this why is there a ditch tax again —rain
You had some hits in the ’90s and some of your audio sketches and tunes still make me giggle to this very day, maybe. But your movies have sucked for almost 20 years. Netflix keeps telling me I might like this one, but you and I both know it’s not likely. Stop while you still…
In most salons you’ll see two prices for haircuts—one for men and one for women. On June 1, Kara’s Urban Day Spa will cut gendered pricing at its three HRM locations (5980 Spring Garden Road, 940 Cole Harbour Road and and offer equitable gender-neutral pricing. Kevyn Martell, Kara’s new artistic director, has been in…
[Image-1] Go time greeted me with “Service on this route has ended” for all the buses at that stop. Its Monday morning at 8:00. Like a fool I walk down and hope to chance it. After 7 minutes of waiting beyond the “scheduled” time I hoof it to the ferry. Of course as soon as…
After an 8 million dollar upgrade from GO-Time to the Departure line system I was excited and had hope this was finally improve transit in Halifax. What a disaster! It’s worse than before! I’m tired of being told the bus is 5 minutes away. Then after 8-10 minutes being advised the next one is in…
[Image-1] A big thanks goes out to the awesome woman who took the time to stop and mouth ‘I love your sunglasses!’ to me while I was sitting in my car outside a certain grocery store. I was having an awful day and your small gesture of kindness was a bright spot! —Thankful Stranger
Shopping for bathing suits is the worst, but if sisters Anna and Omeda Swinemar have anything to say about it—it’s about to get a little bit easier. Together, the Swinemars are getting ready to debut their line, and first foray into fashion, Mëda Swim, just in time for summer. “We’re really big into promoting body…
[Image-1] A new low-income bus pass program could be ready by September, as regional council gives first reading to a new bylaw that also offers free Halifax Transit service to refugees. Council originally asked for a low-income transit pass program in 2014, but it was delayed for over two years due to some bylaw red…
Fresh off shooting a fresh-as-hell new girl-gang-inspired lookbook for her online shop, Nadyne Kasta AKA the designer behind The Girl From Away, is cooking up another cool collaboration. With both local entrepreneurs and shoppers in mind, Kasta, the Maritime Makers collective and Big Pony’s (2168 Gottingen Street) Lindsay Stewart and Emily Ross have planned an…
It’s a rough-and-tumble weekend with roller derby, feminist punk, Monster Jam and wrestling on the go. Get out and play–but consider wearing kneepads. 12. OBEY Convention › Nadja, Sound of the Mountain, Cloaked Figure. Thursday, May 26, 7:30pm. Toronto-grown, Berlin-based dreamsludge duo Nadja juxtapose elements of shoegaze, metal, ambient music and doom for a transcendental…
For the last two years, three Halifax DJs have been bringing the literal and metaphorical jams almost once a month to Michael’s Bar & Grill (#RIP), briefly to Reflections and then finally The Seahorse, where the last several Jams have been ‘jammed’ to capacity. On June 17, DJ T-Woo (Trevor Wood), DJ Okay TK (TK Thorpe) and DJ Loukas…
Dave Adler is not new to the fair-and-sustainable fish game. If you aren’t either, you’ll recognize his name from his work with the Ecology Action Centre’s Off The Hook community-supported fisheries program—which works to connect consumers with local, small-scale fishers—as well as Slow Fish Canada. He’s the man behind Hooked Halifax and papered-over windows at…
[Image-1] He’s not the most recognizable name for voters, but District 7 candidate Dominick Desjardins is counting on a fresh face being an advantage in October’s HRM election. Both incumbent Waye Mason and former councillor Sue Uteck have been unable to fix the problems in Halifax South Downtown, he says. “We’ve had two chances in…
[Image-1] The race for District 7 is starting to heat up. Sue Uteck confirms to The Coast she’ll be running in October’s municipal election—trying to unseat the man who took away her job after 13 years at City Hall. “I’ve received a lot of encouragement, and to be quite honest I miss the diversity of…
[Image-1] Peter Ziobrowski is the president of the The Action Group for Better Architecture in Nova Scotia (AGBANS). The group, which started earlier this month, is advocating for better planning and architectural consideration in Halifax. It’s inspired by the community group that tried to save New York City’s Penn Station in the 1960s (AGBANY). Ziobrowski,…
[Image-1] Just like public health care and public schools, I believe that free transit is a public good because we would live in a better world if everyone was healthy, educated and able to get around. We collectively fund public health care because we see it as an important public good, but we fail to…
Until the iconic Khyber Building on Barrington Street was closed in 2014, the Khyber Centre for the Arts served as headquarters for the OBEY Convention. Visual artists would create installations for the festival, like prismatic ceiling pyramids in the ballroom, or Mitchell Wiebe’s black-light paintings in the attic or poetry readings, poster sales and waffle…
“It’s hard to believe this author is just beginning,” wrote Michelle Berry in her four-star review of Heave, the debut novel by Christy Ann Conlin, in the Globe and Mail. “I can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next.” Publish date: January 26, 2002. Fourteen years, a move from the north end to the Annapolis…
Until the iconic Khyber Building on Barrington Street was closed in 2014, the Khyber Centre for the Arts served as headquarters for the OBEY Convention. Visual artists would create installations for the festival, like prismatic ceiling pyramids in the ballroom, or Mitchell Wiebe’s black-light paintings in the attic or poetry readings, poster sales and waffle…
James Ehnes’ virtuosic talent feels like a force of nature. Making sounds that are sometimes bombastic and often impressively nuanced, he plays the violin with a confidence and an elegance that are nearly unparalleled. Now, on the occasion of his 40th birthday—celebrated in January—Ehnes has been hitting the road to play compositions both new and…
In this, its ninth year, OBEY is bigger and more inclusive than ever. Along with the standard tightly curated collection of boundary pushing music shows and the Khyber’s Art In Fest running all weekend—Thursday, May 26 through Sunday, May 29—the festival features a new lecture series, the EverySeeker Symposium, plus a mandate to make more…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) “Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now,” said novelist Doris Lessing. “The conditions are always impossible.” I hope you take her advice to heart, Gemini. In my astrological opinion, there is no good excuse for you to postpone your gratification or to procrastinate about moving to the next stage of…
It seems nothing really jogs the mind into creative thinking like an apple falling from a tree. Legend says it’s what inspired Newton to dream up his law of universal gravitation, and it looks like the innocent apple has struck again—this time closer to home. We’re talking about FOUND, a brand-new Halifax-based start-up looking to…
Q I am a 40-year-old woman; I came out when I was 16. When I was 17, I met M and we dated for eight years. M was a horrible human being—emotionally and occasionally physically abusive. M still sends me the occasional (creepy) email, wishing me a happy birthday or giving me updates on people…
[Image-1] Biologist Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was published in 1962. The book—about widespread agricultural pesticide use and how toxic chemicals like DDT were threatening insects, birds and other wildlife—garnered widespread acclaim and is heralded as a catalyst for the modern environmental movement. That same year, a pulp and paper mill in Dryden, Ontario, began dumping…
In 2007, OBEY Convention started “as a small happening aimed at celebrating weird and sometimes subversive music,” says founder and organizer Darcy Spidle. “From day one, it caught on.” In the last eight years, intimate meetings of contemporary art and music have grown to epic proportions. OBEY reinvents itself every year and still maintains its…
Libraries are usually quiet spaces for reading, but Dartmouth hardcore band Alienation will blow the books off the shelves for an all-ages show on Friday at the Memorial North Library with their loud, fast D-beat punk. “The location is funny,” says vocalist and author Dylan Jewers. “Poverty, crime and deep-rooted community on one side, then…
In contemporary art and culture, we are constantly striving to challenge and renegotiate accepted conventions and expectations. But Mykki Blanco, the Orange County rapper, poet, activist and actor—also queer, non-binary, HIV-positive and influenced by Riot Grrls—is the supreme being of artistic change in 2016. In her ascent as the most prominent figure in underground rap,…
On Saturday night, Halifax will be treated to one of Chicago’s most interesting film composers and jazz multi-instrumentalists. Joshua Abrams makes music that is challenging, accessible and it rings in tune with the body. For over 15 years, Abrams has been creating worlds within worlds. Since 2010, he performs with a rotating ensemble called the…
“The music I tend to play is usually techno and acid house,” says DJ Kaz_Kandy (AKA Kelly Zwicker). “Sometimes I like playing EDM and minimal-wave, but techno is a really transcendent type of music for me. I love how repetitive and hard-hitting it can be, while still having so much depth. Plus, it’s just super-fun…
Playing soft and intricate pop, Brave Radar began as the solo project of Sydney, Australia’s Conor Prendergast. After moving to Montreal, he was joined by Halifax’s Tessa Smith of Fixture Records. The band has since grown to be a four-piece, full-fledged member of Montreal’s independent scene, with Smith’s label at the centre. If he could…
OBEY Convention is more than just a weekend of seeing wicked, life-changing bands. For its ninth and most robust year, OBEY has prepared its very first music lecture series, the EverySeeker Symposium, running in tandem with the rest of the festival. Organized by former Halifax musician and current music theory student Dave Ewenson, who is…
“I find inspiration in my everyday life,” says Montreal composer, poet and synth-artist Marie Davidson. “I often take notes of thoughts I’ve had or things that people say to me. If you come close to me, you might end up in a song.” Since the release of her debut LP Perte d’identité in 2014, Davidson…
“Zs has no peers really,” says Sam Hillmer, founder and tenor saxophonist of his Brooklyn-based experimental avant-garde ensemble (pronounced the American way, “zees”). “But there are really engaged audiences.” With Patrick Higgins and Greg Fox, Zs is a sonic experience that exceeds expectation, even though “expectation is the death of experience,” Hillmer says. With swelling…
