Artists and art lovers all over the city will be busy as the Halifax Fringe Festival starts today. The festival will present over 60 shows at six different venues, with some creatives even bringing their own. The Fringe is a time to celebrate all that Halifax has to offer in terms of arts and […]
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.
Shared trauma bonds two hockey players in this Halifax Fringe Fest play
One is a Canadian hockey player trying to make it big, in part to win the attention of his alcoholic father. The other is a Ukrainian hockey player, who wishes to bring his father to Canada and away from the war. Both junior A players have the same goal: to make the NHL draft. […]
Your guide to all the shows at the 2024 Halifax Fringe Festival
If you want to see art that’s deliberately expressive, interesting or just downright weird, the Halifax Fringe Festival is for you. Unrestrained from any means of censorship, the Fringe Festival stages are a place where artists can put on whatever they’ve been working on, no matter the content. Over 11 days, Wednesday Aug. 28 […]
The future is the new nostalgia
Hearing Rich Aucoin’s voice on the phone takes me back. To Mr. Seely’s Grade 11 English class, to dozens of house parties and dances with Ja Rule and Nelly—of course—to Aucoin’s very first show at the late, great Tribeca in 2007. In a lot of ways, he and I grew up together, and despite the […]
Indie rock vets Dog Day revel in the noise on new record
Seth Smith thought he was done with music. The lead vocalist for Halifax-based Dog Day had been crafting melancholic indie rock tunes with his wife Nancy Urich and a rotating cast of band members since before Dog Day’s 2007 debut, Night Group. But after their 2013 record Fade Out, Smith succumbed to the burnout […]
Last chance for you to vote for Music Nova Scotia’s Entertainer of the Year
Nova Scotia Music Week is fast approaching, as is the closing date for voting on this year’s awards: this Thursday, Aug. 22. Happening from Nov. 7-10 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia Music Week will see musicians and industry professionals from around the province gather to celebrate all they’ve accomplished over the last year—and there’s a […]
Political jabs and lots of laughs expected from Nick Beaton’s Halifax gig
Nova Scotia’s Nick Beaton is returning home from Toronto for a special series of shows at Halifax Yuk Yuk’s on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 9-10. The politically-charged comedian is hot off the release of his first comedy special, Geriatric Millennial, where Beaton takes shots at both the left and right for their perceived faults […]
PUP’s Stefan Babcock ‘riding the wave’ of dread and creativity
Stefan Babcock is no stranger to feeling like his world is falling apart. The lead singer of award-winning Toronto punk rock band PUP, Babcock pens most of his lyrics from a place of existential angst, from the self-spiraling anthem “DVP” to uncontrollable external conflicts described in “Scorpion Hill”. But what contrasts ideas about navigating through […]
Letterkenny’s K. Trevor Wilson and friends hitting up Halifax’s Spatz Theatre
K. Trevor Wilson, known for playing the lovable observationist Squirrely Dan in Letterkenny, is coming to Halifax. Stopping into the Spatz Theatre on Sept. 20, the show is a part of his K. Trevor Wilson and Friends cross-country tour featuring a whole host of Canadian comics. His Halifax stop will feature Albertan comic Clare Belford, […]
June Body sings of melancholic heartbreak on ‘Last Everythings’ LP
Connor James described his seven-year relationship as existing within a snow globe. He could see each individual scene play out within the glass. The morning when it finally happened. All of the complex feelings leading up to it. The freeing hopelessness that came afterward. “I never wanted to wake up from the dream you […]
Sylvia Hamilton’s long career of telling African Nova Scotian stories
Sylvia D. Hamilton, a filmmaker and poet who has spent her career telling the stories of African Nova Scotians, is now a member of the Order of Canada. On June 27, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon listed 83 appointments to the Order of Canada. Amongst the appointments were high-profile names such as pop star Avril […]
Jah’Mila proves reggae is going strong on new record, ‘Woman of the Sun’
JUNO-nominated reggae powerhouse Jah’Mila considers her newest album to be an evolution of her sound. Striking out in 2022 with the success of Roots Girl, earning Jah’Mila her 2024 JUNO nomination, she thought her next musical endeavour should show how she’s progressed since making songs during the pandemic. Roots will eventually rise above the […]

