Friday might call for a chance of showers, but the weekend in Halifax is still hot, hot, hot—and that goes for what’s on offer around the HRM, too. From Canadian football to local film to a brand new taproom, there’s plenty to see and do. Allow us to be your weekend guide with these Coast picks:
1. See F*cking Trans Women at the Bus Stop Theatre. Halifax actor and playwright Zoë Comeau’s solo show premiered to a sold-out crowd at the Bus Stop Theatre on Wednesday. A story of “trying to navigate intimacy and hot fucking sex with bodies that don’t fit the norm,” it sees Comeau—a trans actor and artist herself—playing two different transgender women finding their way through relationships.
The script draws on Comeau’s own life stories and also weaves together segments from the digital zine that inspired it. She sees the show—which blends both humour and heart—as part entertainment, part guide:
“It’s just so important for people to notice that we are not different,” Comeau says. “We like to communicate with our lovers. We like to touch our lovers, and to be touched… What we want is to just exist and love. And fuck.”
Seats are available for Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows on Eventbrite. Tickets range from $10 to $20.
2. Check out Propeller’s new taproom in Bedford. Halifax’s oldest craft brewery has some new digs: The winner of The Coast’s reader-selected Best of Halifax award for Best Microbrewery for years in the aughts has opened its fourth brick-and-mortar location—and this time, it’s right in the heart of Bedford. The brewery’s new taproom and drive-thru (1225 Bedford Highway, beside the plaza with Taz Records) joins Propeller’s Quinpool Road taproom, its Windmill Road head office and its original Gottingen Street location.
The taproom and patio is open Sunday to Thursday from noon until 10pm, and Friday and Saturday from noon until midnight. Dogs are welcome.
3. Catch a screening of Compulsus at Carbon Arc Cinema. Why not watch local this weekend? Halifax filmmaker (and former longtime Coast reporter) Tara Thorne’s feature-length debut has been called “one of the best true indie films… in some time,” and an “incendiary queer drama for the Me Too era.” The 2022 film follows poet and writer Wally (played by Halifax-based actor Lesley Smith), “driven by rage, empathy, and something she can’t yet name,” as she “patrols the streets at night, taking physical revenge on abusive hipster men on behalf of the survivors who can’t.”
It’s screening at Carbon Arc Cinema (1747 Summer Street) this Friday and Saturday at 7pm. Thorne and members of the cast will be attending both screenings.
4. Enjoy Jamaican food and music at Alderney Landing. It’s never too hot for jerk, right? This Sunday, the Jamaican Cultural Association of Nova Scotia hosts its 10th annual Caribbean Diaspora Multicultural Celebration on Dartmouth’s waterfront. Come for games, a fashion show and performances from the likes of Laydee Vee, the Juno-nominated Andru Branch & Halfway Tree, and the Nova Dream Drummers. Plus, all the Caribbean food you can dream of. The celebration runs from 1 to 9pm on July 30. Admission is free.
5. Watch the Argos take on the Roughriders at Huskies Stadium. Halifax might not have a Canadian Football League team anytime soon, but football diehards can take heart: Touchdown Atlantic is back with another CFL regular season game in Halifax. This Saturday, July 29, the East Division-leading Toronto Argonauts “host” the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders at Saint Mary’s University’s Huskies Stadium. The gridiron battle marks the second time the CFL has brought a regular-season game to Nova Scotia, after last year’s duel between the Argos and Riders in Wolfville. (Another game was planned for 2020, but… y’know.)
Tickets have been a hot commodity: The CFL says it sold out of its original batch of tickets in June, prompting the league to add another 1,000 seats. Seats on StubHub range from $83 to a Shania-at-Scotiabank-esque $701.
6. See the Halifax Central Library’s exhibit before it’s gone. It’s your last chance to see South Shore artist John Bladek’s geometric landscapes at the Halifax Public Library. A month-long exhibition of the Belleville, NS, artist’s works comes to a close on Monday. A spiritual successor to Lawren Harris’ depictions of Canada, Bladek’s works have brought places like Mahone Bay, Cape Breton and Yellowknife to colourful life on canvas.
You can see the pieces for free during the Central Library’s regular hours—just head to the top floor, across from the cafe.
