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The Coast | News, events, restaurants, concerts and Burger Week for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Home of the Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Awards, the award-winning independent newspaper covers the Halifax news, politics, events, concerts, movies, restaurants, and nightlife scene.
Riley Stearns began writing The Art of Self-Defense in 2015, when the internet had accelerated and highlighted terrible behaviour acted out by men along traditional gender lines: Violence and action over words and feelings, now very commonly known as toxic masculinity. “I was questioning who I was as a man, and what society was telling me…
You three were totally hot on Friday night at a certain downtown establishment. Him: handsome, charismatic and in charge, but not in a gross way. Her: beautiful, sweet and nervous. After your magic third showed up (perky, bubbly, curly) listening to you three saved me from dying of boredom with my night that didn’t go…
Back at the beginning of June, a local community group had a big yard sale. Many posters were stapled to many hydro poles across the north end. Today plenty of those posters remain, with a number ripped off and thrown to the sidewalk and streets. It would be nice if the sale organizers could organize…
Intrigued by a new dude on the scene? With a poor-me backstory about why he’s here that seems too good to be true? Yeah, it really is. Run don’t walk. Pro tip: He doesn’t even want to fuck you, he just wants to get his garden watered or whatever. —The Last Fly
What a great treat to see a pipe band in the Pride parade. Thanks, guys. Every parade in Nova Scotia needs a pipe band, eh! —Greek Canadian lover of the pipes
Last time I checked, we don’t have any autobahn roads in NS with no speed limit. If you think driving 160 is OK on public highway, you are being an ASS. Yes, the “slowpoke” doing 120 in the left lane was slowing you down, that is because he was only somewhat above the speed limit…
Hey you, the girl who saved me from having a total meltdown in the front row at The Bump: I hope you see this and find a way to connect. You hella cute, if I wasn’t in the middle of having a meltdown, I woulda totally asked you for your number… so if you see…
To the workers of the shop on Barrington, to the two ladies with two daughters watching the parade, to my friends who I play D&D with and to the dear friend who drove me home at around 1am: I hope the cupcakes/cake were yummy! To the group of people in front of the library who…
I am a person with a legitimate disability on assistance, although before you assume I’m a “welfare bum,” please know that I work part-time as much as I physically can to supplement my very modest income. I am disgusted with trying to find a reasonable rental apartment in HRM. I’m looking for a simple one-bedroom apartment…
I was so happy to be back on the east coast. First time back in a while. I was loving the boardwalk and the smell of the ocean, but was so hot in my airplane suit and tie. You were promoting how clean our water is, so I thought I’d test it out! You must…
I was very disturbed to hear that a report by NBC News named cigarette butts as the single greatest source of ocean pollution—surpassing plastic straws. PLEASE, SMOKERS, DISPOSE OF THESE DISGUSTING THINGS PROPERLY!!!!! —Butt Hater
To the mature, tight-assed white woman who had such a problem with me smoking weed away from the crowd at the Pride parade, that she had a walk-by altercation with me: Loosen up. You’re at a Pride parade, hun. Telling me it’s “the law” then calling the cops on me was the lamest thing you…
THANK YOU SO MUCH, PAM! For finding and returning my nerdy Star Wars wallet, still with cash. —Dumby Who Left His Wallet On The Back Of His Truck
…who leave the bus with a loud “thank you” to the numerous, obviously ill-behaved transit bus drivers, why? I wish I would hear more “fuck you mister bus driver!”s. —Sad (Black, Duh) City Dweller PS: I would post a rant directly to such drivers but I doubt I would get through to any of these…
The Coast sits down with Martha Paynter to talk about abortion on the big screen. From drawn-out, dramatic representations to quick and empowering montages—set to “Silent Night”—Paynter shares her thoughts on seven noteworthy examples of abortion on TV and in the movies. “How many billion labours and births have we seen on screen? There are…
QI am a bi married man—35 years old and living in a big Midwestern city. I’d like to know what’s going on in my psyche—from a sex-research perspective. I’ve been hung up on cuckold fantasies with my female partner for years now. I’m a creative person and I’m especially fond of creative fantasizing in bed,…
Pride month in Halifax is made up of more than just parties in colourful packages—and the Dyke and Trans March on July 28 is one of several events that prove it. Frank Heimpel, the outreach coordinator at South House Sexual and Gender Resource Centre, hopes the Dyke and Trans March will provide space for folks…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANCER (June 21 – July 20) What would you say if I asked you to tell me who you truly are? I wouldn’t want to hear so much about your titles and awards. I’d be curious about your sacred mysteries, not your literal history. I’d want to know the treasured secrets you talk…
According to a new report, 70 percent of transgender youth in Canada have experienced sexual harassment. More than one-third of trans youth ages 14 to 18 have been physically threatened or injured in the past year. Twenty to 40 percent of homeless youth identify as 2SLGBTQ+. This comes from a recent report by Halifax group…
Iam a white-passing Japanese Canadian queer cis-woman born and raised in the north end. However, I haven’t gotten to live there as a queer adult yet—I left Halifax almost immediately after coming out at 20, during my first year of my BFA at NSCAD. I often feel this leaving as a kind of loss. Yet…
Halifax Pride MainStage Showcase July 20 @ 4:30pm Garrison Grounds Festival site Free www.hgmc.ca The Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus is preparing to make its mark on the city when it introduces itself to the 2SLGBTQ+ community in a very public way at this year’s Pride Festival. As Nova Scotia’s first gay men’s chorus, it’s an…
Educator, drag queen, aesthetician, actor, consultant: Halifax’s 2019 Pride ambassador commands the spotlight everywhere she goes. Now in her 14th year as a performer, Chris Cochrane—Halifamous for her drag persona Elle Noir—is finding balance and breaking boundaries as a dazzling new era brings drag into vogue. Strangers linger in a bustling Hydrostone coffee shop, shooting…
Just in time for Pride, Halifax audiences will have a chance to wig out and enjoy what Rolling Stone has dubbed “the best rock musical ever.” The Tony Award-winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch, written by John Cameron Mitchell with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, follows the story of Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer singer…
It all started when Richie Wilcox asked his musician pals to cover some Rufus Wainwright tunes at The Music Room on an empty Monday night during Pride. What once felt like a way to fill time during the festival quickly took root as an important tradition, with Heist’s annual Pride tribute—then called the Angels &…
Constellate: “Form or cause to form into a cluster or group; gather together.” Or, in the case of the local storytelling series of the same name, “to provide a space and opportunity for people who wouldn’t normally have their voices heard,” says Greg Puncher, one of its co-founders. For the past six months, Puncher and…
Pro movie choice Katie Telford, prime minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff, is appalled that Cineplex is showing the anti-abortion film Unplanned at several theatres across Canada. Funny, but I wasn’t aware that Katie was being forced to watch it. Here’s a solution for you, Katie: Live and let live, while exercising your right not…
Making space for marginalized groups is what Pride has always been about. And this year, it’s continuing to do the extra work to push that space even further. The Pride parade’s low-sensory viewing area returns for its second year at the festival. The space gives an elevated view of the parade and ensures reduced noise,…
Media and politicians often regard environmentalists as a special interest group with political priorities served by “green” parties. If a Green politician isn’t present or allowed to participate in a public debate, journalists tend to eschew environmental questions, considering them the purview of the absent party. It’s absurd to think an issue like climate change…
From community consultations to carving in concrete, a new art installation in the Halifax Common to honour the African Nova Scotian community is finally finished. In 2015, Halifax set out to build three art installations around the Halifax Common park, and this week the finishing touches were painted on at the Agricola, Cunard and North…
From the return of Wannabe: A Spice Girls Tribute to the Pride parade to the kitchen party vibes of Jesus Murphy, this weekend will be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Family Over Fame day Saturday An outdoor community celebration that sees R&B royalty JRDN taking the stage—along with free haircuts,…
Safer Space Massage Therapy @saferspacemassage Online booking is available here Six months ago, Leah Inman dove into a business idea by starting a massage clinic run out of their Fairview home. “I’ve always been very entrepreneurial,” Inman says. “I love working for myself, making my own hours. And it just made sense for me to…
Maneland 1528 Queen Street Getting entangled in the world of hair was something of a surprise for Steph McNair. While making a living working in art galleries and as a carpenter, the visual artist—inspired by a good friend’s at-home salon—applied to go to hair school on a whim, and got in. “I never went to…
