Nova Scotia reports deadliest COVID-19 week of its entire pandemic
This week in Nova Scotia, the number of reported COVID cases is still on a downtrend. A total of 5,436 new cases were diagnosed by PCR testing between April 19 and 25, for an average of 777 per day. Compared to last week’s 1,072 cases per day, that’s a big drop, and a continuation of…
Burger Bash begins
Today, The Coast kicked off the 2022 Halifax Burger Bash, a 10-day event where patties take over the peninsula and beyond. The Coast is now in its tenth year of running a burger event for HRM, and this year is bigger than ever before with 138 participating restaurants! Almost all of those restaurants are donating…
OutFest brings 2SLGBTQ+ stories to the stage in Halifax this week
When The Coast reaches Isaac Mulè, artistic director of Page 1 Theatre (the company behind the new-to-Halifax event called OutFest), he’s just stepped out of The Bus Stop Theatre, where the hubbub of the last minute is unfolding. “The directors are hanging some things for one of the pieces and the actors are running lines…
Finally, someone wrote the must-read book on Maud Lewis’s artwork
There are north of 15 books on Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis, from coffee table tomes to children’s books teaching counting via the repeated iconography of her paintings. Many focus on her biography, hitting the familiar notes of her late-life marriage and her solitary youth in Yarmouth. There’s even a niche-y, deep-dive into how…
Nova Scotia “may have hit the peak” of current COVID wave
Nova Scotia’s latest COVID report came out on Thursday as usual. It covers a full seven days of disease activity in the province, unlike last week’s report that was only for six days. The change last week was needed to get the province on a better reporting cycle (the seven days from Tuesday to Monday,…
Two degrees of Mattea Roach
Canadians are a proud bunch. We love to boast about homegrown celebs whenever they’re in the news, whether it’s Ryan Reynolds, Drake or Celine Dion. In the Maritimes, that’s only amplified further. Our undying love of Elliot Page, Sarah McLachlan and Sidney Crosby runs as deep in our veins as our need to say “it’s…
Gus’ Pub *still* isn’t closing (we checked)
Music lovers can officially breathe easy about the fate of north end institution Gus’ Pub. “We’re gonna have to distinguish between Gus’ Pub, the building it resides in, and Gus’ Pub, the business: That’s two different things, right? So Gus’ Pub the business wasn’t sold. The building it resides in was sold,” says manager Dimo…
Halifax is getting a retro roller rink
Dig out the neon spandex, find your flared pants and prepare for big hair. When Upshaw’s Roller Dome opens at 16 Dentith Road in Spryfield this summer, Halifax will be whisked back to ’70s and ’80s roller rink nostalgia. “I’m putting a lot of thought into the atmosphere, the lighting and the sound,” says owner…
A note to our readers from the founders of The Coast
Today we are very excited to share our news that The Coast has been acquired by the Overstory Media Group. Since we founded The Coast with four other friends in 1993, we have seen so much change in our industry. With a feisty and committed team, we have been able to persevere and push through…
Neptune Theatre announces its 60th anniversary season
Today’s upcoming season announcement from Neptune Theatre proves that year 60 will be a big one for the venerable venue. Its 2022-2023 season of shows will include the new stage adaptation of Cape Breton’s answer to East of Eden, Ann-Marie MacDonald’s CanLit classic Fall On Your Knees. Written for the stage by Halifax’s most decorated…
Halifax Jazz Festival announces first wave of 2022 acts
Summer 2022 is already heating up to be a good time–and the sizzle factor has climbed even higher with today’s announcement that Halifax Jazz Festival is returning to a pre-pandemic format of live, in-person programming on the Halifax waterfront, at St. Matthew’s United Church and at The Carleton. The first wave of artists announced includes…
COVID keeps rising in Nova Scotia while pandemic info from the province is falling
The last time Nova Scotia issued its weekly COVID update, we discussed the two big things the report revealed. First, infections are up to the highest level of the whole pandemic. Second, it’s hard to make good comparisons of disease data when the province switches around the way it reports information. That was for the…
Preston Township Library Office celebrates first anniversary
Consider it one of the rare bright spots in the wall-to-wall bleakness of 2021: Last year, the township of Preston opened its library office. A part of the Halifax Public Libraries network, the office serves as a vital community hub, offering events, literacy initiatives, and digital access programs. Located at 1900 Trunk 7, East Preston,…
Theatre Nova Scotia’s 2022 Robert Merritt Awards, recapped
Last night, Theatre Nova Scotia’s Merritt Awards celebrated the best in local live performance with its first ceremony since COVID-19’s arrival. With plays from 2020 and 2021 both in the running, the nominee list felt like a reminder of just how much boundary-breaking, life-affirming theatre has been made during the pandemic in this province. Eastern…
Nova Scotia just reported its most new COVID cases of the entire pandemic
Does everyone you know have COVID? It certainly feels like everyone has it. And given the latest pandemic numbers released by the province yesterday, there’s good reason for that feeling. During the entire pandemic, now into its third year, Nova Scotia has never had as many new cases reported as right now. Because the government…
Stephanie Joline’s debut feature Night Blooms blossoms at Cineplex Park Lane this week
When watching Night Blooms, the debut feature film from Stephanie Joline, it’s impossible for a viewer’s stomach to remain unclenched. The knots start tying in reaction to the visceral immersion felt from the movie’s opening frames: That you’re stuck in the nowheresville of 1998 small town Nova Scotia, just like the film’s anti-hero main character,…
With COVID infections at a new high in NS, Strang stresses personal responsibility
Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang, held a Zoom briefing Thursday afternoon, April 7. It was originally supposed to be for media only, as a note from the province yesterday morning at 8:40 reiterated. But within three hours another email came from the province to say now the session would be…
Art rocker Sister Swire could’ve recorded her debut anywhere. Here’s why she chose Dartmouth.
Sarah Swire is the sort of multi-hyphenate who breaks the character limits of social media bios: Between touring the world as a performance artist with band Belle & Sebastian and acting in a recurring bit on Murdoch Mysteries, she’s also produced music for the BBC. But these days, the best description for the artist, who…
Shakespeare By The Sea co-founder Elizabeth Murphy retiring
“I love living in Halifax. I’ve lived here since 1988. It’s my home. And I’m so happy to be able to say I did something nice for Halifax, for Nova Scotia” says Elizabeth Murphy, one of the three founders of Shakespeare By The Sea, speaking with The Coast by phone. Earlier today (Wednesday, April 6),…
Premier Houston’s bizarre new COVID video annotated by Twitter
Wednesday morning, the Nova Scotia government’s Twitter account released a two-minute video of premier Tim Houston and chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang. Houston’s come under a lot of criticism lately for his handling of COVID, particularly because the government dropped most public health rules and stopped giving daily updates about the disease,…
Matt Mays announces trio of August Shore Club shows
A couple of indie Can-rock kings will descend on Hubbards’s Shore Club this August 25-27. Dartmouth hero Matt Mays has long marked the swan song of the season with a trio of always-packed, always-sold-out, always-worth-it shows at the venerable dance hall, and 2022 sees the tradition return to its pre-pandemic format, ditching the inflated prices of…
Halifax-based Ukrainian artist’s work included in art auction for Ukraine
Ukrainian artist Yana Movchan has a style of light-doused neo-realism that garners national acclaim, belying her quiet Halifax-based practice. Hers are the sort of instant-classic canvases that bring a magical realist feel with their quiet symbolism—and, she’s now donating a work to an art auction benefiting Ukrainian refugees. Curated by the Ukrainian Institute of Modern…