The space feels sacred; the stories it holds makes the air thick. Each piece of art is given space and room to breathe. Each story is tragic and each painting is beautiful, somehow capturing the essence of the loss without descending into darkness. As I walk around the show at Applehead Studios on Barrington Street […]
Arts & Culture
Posted inArts + Music
Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival to celebrate 15th anniversary on National Canadian Film Day
It all started 15 years ago because people in Black communities had nowhere to tell their stories. That first year, the Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival screened about eight films. This year, they received over 100 submissions from all around the world. “This year, about 50 per cent of the films are local, but we […]
Posted inArts + Music
Every big show happening in Halifax in April 2025
Spring has sprung, the days are getting long and as the calendar finally flips from March to April, there’s a brand-new lineup of shows coming to Halifax. As always, The Coast has you covered at what’s happening in town: Crypthand Crypthand is a new Canadian play that imagines the early life of Anne Lister, a […]
Posted inArts + Music
ZUPPA turns 27 but isn’t scared of dying
Turning 27 can be a cursed year for great creative people, but Halifax-based Theatre Company Zuppa Circus—now known as just ZUPPA— hopes to sail through the milestone without joining the ominous and infamous 27 Club. The Coast caught up with three of its members on a Zoom call, and they seemed healthy and happy. Their […]
Posted inArts + Music
FAT JULIET opening in fair Dartmouth, where we lay our scene
When Winnipeg native Stevey Hunter graduated from Dalhousie’s Fountain School of Performing Arts, they quickly became disillusioned by the options for roles available to them. So they did what any good creative does; they wrote one for themself. “Going to theatre school as a plus size actor, I felt very put in a box about […]
Posted inArts + Music
Trump threatened this trans comic’s visa—now she’s coming to Halifax
Ava Val has heard enough performative allyship since coming out as a trans woman in her thirties. “If I get one more ‘Yasss Queen!’ while I’m picking a wedgie in a park, I’m detransitioning,” the Toronto comedian jokes in So Brave, her gut-busting debut comedy special. “I love your support, but fuck! Being called brave […]
Posted inArts + Music
Every big show happening in Halifax in March 2025
Spring is almost here—finally!—and with the longer days of March, Halifax is coming back to life. From film festivals celebrating homegrown talent to some of Canada’s biggest rock acts coming to town, there’s a whole lot more to look forward to this month than just the promise of warmer weather. (Although that certainly helps, too.) […]
Posted inArts + Music
“Stories to tell”: Halifax Black Film Festival shines spotlight on local filmmakers
Andre Anderson can still recall the feeling of watching Ava DuVernay’s 13th for the first time. The Preston-raised African Nova Scotian actor—and now filmmaker—had been so moved by the 2016 documentary on the US prison-industrial complex that he screened it for his classmates at Saint Mary’s University. Then again at the Marquee Ballroom. Anderson says […]
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Every big show coming to Halifax and beyond in 2025
The New Year might have just arrived, but the lineup of shows coming to Halifax in 2025 is already jam-packed. Here we keep track of the major shows—music, theatre, comedy and events—scheduled for the city and around Nova Scotia throughout the year. To help our team of event hunters, we hope you’ll let us know […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Trio of art shows on Black resilience, faith, cultural pride opens at Dalhousie Art Gallery
This February, African Heritage Month, let the Dalhousie Art Gallery be a beacon for community power, intergenerational knowledge sharing and creative resistance. Let it be a salve for the isolating chill of not winter but the racist, fascist and systematic efforts to scapegoat, divide and erase communities, cultures and histories. From Feb 4 through Apr […]
Posted inArts + Music
Every big show happening in Halifax in February 2025
The New Year isn’t so new anymore—but as the calendar turns from January to February, there’s a brand-new lineup of shows coming to Halifax. And from weekend jams packed with surprise guests to some of the best in Canadian theatre, there’s plenty on offer that’s worth venturing out into the cold for. As always, The […]
Posted inArts + Music
This Nova Scotian’s podcast has become a queer hit—and it’s coming to Halifax for a live show
There is some kismet involved in Dane Stewart’s path to podcast prominence. Long before the Truro native’s show, Resurrection, claimed the top spot on Apple Podcasts’ Arts chart in Canada—and eventually reached #13 in the world—he met a man at a gay bar in Montreal. The year was 2016. It was Montreal Pride, and Stewart, […]
