Halifax’s biggest labour and arts festival is back for another year. The Mayworks Festival is both a celebration and a protest. It’s many artistic works present a mosaic of diverse and complex working-class issues, inspired by the May Day for which the festival gets its name. “Art is inherently political,” says assistant festival director Jake […]
Arts + Music
Live theatre, art exhibits, comedy, literary, spoken word – The Coast guide to Halifax and Dartmouth, NS . The downtown, local arts scene – plays, writers, actors, artists and performers. Painting, sculpture, photography, stand-up, stage.
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Designers from Halifax, Toronto head to PEI Fashion Weekend
Designers from Halifax to Toronto are set to bring a mix of sustainability, global influence, and self-expression to Prince Edward Island as PEI Fashion Weekend returns May 1 and 2. Now in its fifth season, the event has grown from a pandemic-era idea into a regional platform connecting emerging and established designers from across Canada […]
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Mat Elliott talks burnout on debut LP ‘Video Games’, out April 29
Getting lost in distractions. Feeling the pressure to keep trudging on, even though you’ve been worked to the bone for too long. Doing anything you can to cope with the stress, the burnout. Award-winning art-pop artist Mat Elliott debuts his first full-length record, Video Games, on April 29. Like his debut EP South Endings from […]
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Providing support through unique fashion: The story behind Outsider Insight
Like many of us, Gavin Quinn is no stranger to mental health struggles. When he had faced those problems head-on, he recognized the importance of support, whether it be from friends, family, or organizations that specialize in mental health in all of its intricacies. Impassioned, Quinn began Outsider Insight, a mental health-focused art collective that […]
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Halifax designer Ben Kynock speaks out as arts funding cuts hit Nova Scotia’s youth
In a city where creativity has long shaped identity and economic growth, Halifax designer Ben Kynock is raising concerns about what he sees as a growing threat to the arts community, particularly for young people. Born and raised in Halifax, Kynock is the founder, creative director, and designer behind One-off Design, a clothing label built […]
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June Body gets heavy on cryptically titled ‘7678’ EP
June Body has a new EP on the way, and lead singer/guitarist Connor James says it’s some of the heaviest music the alt-rockers have put out so far. Off the back of their 2024 full-length album Last Everythings, James and his bandmates, bassist Alexander Callaghan and drummer Matthew Schofield, decided to take a different approach […]
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Great music for a great cause: Food for the Ears Festival taking place June 12-13
Ethan Chitty started Food for the Ears in 2023 while he was in high school. It would be an evening concert, hosted in Truro, supporting his local food bank: the Colchester Food Network. In 2026, Food for the Ears has grown significantly. It’s now held in Halifax, with all-star artists from across the province coming […]
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Hangama Amiri returns to Halifax with stories stitched in fabric
For Hangama Amiri, fabric isn’t just a medium, it’s a memory. “Working with fabric kind of made me much closer to who I was as an artist, as a refugee woman as well, as an immigrant,” she says. “My art is related to a lot of feelings and kind of memories of back home.” Now […]
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This Italian game dev is not just inspired by Nova Scotia—it’s the setting of his next project
Edoardo Vitali, an Italian game designer, spent a year in Nova Scotia in the 2010s. Inspired by what he saw, Vitali is developing an atmospheric mystery video game called Benton Cove, set in a fictional town within the Annapolis Valley. Having lived in Dartmouth, Vitali had the chance to experience much of the province’s finest […]
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Cathartic and confident: Loviet talks new ‘Debutante’ EP
After dropping four singles in the past six months, Loviet is gearing up for the release of her newest EP on April 10: Debutante. Based in both Halifax and Toronto, Loviet has been perfecting her alt-pop rock sound in the studio while touring relentlessly across Canada and the United States. Debutante is the culmination of […]
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Fabric of Our DNA launch event celebrates resilience of Nova Scotia arts community
At a time when artists across Nova Scotia are navigating funding cuts and increasing uncertainty, a new multidisciplinary initiative is creating space for expression, collaboration and community connection. Fabric of Our DNA, presented by the House of Soli Productions, will launch with its kickoff event, Woven in Sound, on March 29 at Market Price. The […]
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The enthralling tale of two femme pirates takes the stage in Halifax
The high seas are often portrayed as a gate towards freedom. A place where land borders and political lines disappear into a breadth of rolling waves, where the only people you have are the ones you’ve brought aboard. Halifax playwright Karen Bassett originally wrote Heroine to portray strong women in the pirate-polluted oceans of the […]