Months before thousands of fans don elaborate costumes, line up for celebrity panels and fill the halls of the Nova Centre, the work behind Hal-Con is already well underway. For organizers and cosplayers alike, Canada’s largest fan-run science fiction and fantasy convention is no longer a weekend event. It’s a year-round undertaking. That growth has […]
Arts & Culture
Posted inNews + Opinion
From fiesta stage to festival headliner: Filipino talent takes centre stage in Halifax
When Alvaro first stepped onto the stage at the Philippine Fiesta in Halifax three years ago, he was a relatively unknown local performer testing the waters of live music. This year, the Filipino-Canadian pop artist is returning to the festival as an established performer who has appeared at Nova Scotia Music Week, sung the national […]
Posted inArts + Music
Heavy is the crown on ‘The Prince of Birchy Head’
Sitting outside a Dartmouth coffee shop, Alexander Gallant looks fairly unassuming. A sweater over what’s suspected to be a button-up shirt. Medium-length hair that sometimes flies in front of his face. Two drinks in hand. One potentially caffeinated. The other, some kind of soda. At first glance, Gallant wouldn’t strike the average Joe as royalty; […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The comedy of culture clash: ‘Normal Scotia’ creator and lead actor talk season two
Finding the comedy within cultural clash. That’s the thesis statement of Normal Scotia, a show about two Indian immigrants working at a curling club in Halifax, living their lives while encountering the unique oddities of Canadian Maritime living. Created by Charles Wahl and Amarpal Dhillon, this workplace sitcom follows the lives Shiv (Ishan Sandhu) and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Halifax creatives push back against arts cuts through community-driven media collective
There’s one belief that drives Ben MacDonald and Mitchell Hurley forward. “Art is the heartbeat of Halifax,” says MacDonald. “With the current art funding cuts, it only makes it more difficult for our industry to grow. I think it’s important to have a community that stands together and utilizes one another.” Co-founders of Halifax-based media […]
Posted inArts & Culture
This former Ubisoft Halifax dev has started his own indie game studio
George Greer was one of 71 staff members laid off in the Ubisoft Halifax shutdown in early January. As he saw colleagues look for work outside of Nova Scotia, Greer took note of the opportunity in front of him: to start a video game development studio that makes games that are unequivocally Atlantic Canadian. With […]
Posted inArts & Culture
From science to storytelling: Raven Stephens uses art, culture and community to empower Indigenous youth
A single title does not easily define Raven Stephens, and that is exactly the point. A marine scientist, artist, model, author, and now a candidate for the 2026 Miss Indigenous Canada program, Stephens represents a generation that refuses to be placed in a box. Rooted in Millbrook First Nation and raised in Eskasoni First Nation […]
Posted inArts & Culture
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 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
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 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
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 […]
Posted inArts + Music
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 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Award-winning comedian to film new special in Halifax this spring
British-Canadian comedian James Mullinger has made people in both of his homes laugh on and on, but his bests crowds have always been in Halifax. In celebration of the city that helped make his journey in the comedy world possible, Mullinger will be filming his next comedy special at the Rebecca Cohn Theatre in Halifax […]
