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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.
It is annoying to me that I need to create an account to submit my “best of” nominations, and it’s a separate account from my Coast account. I don’t need all of these user accounts for things! —Slightly Inconvenienced Nominator
This province has tons of potential. It’s being wasted by the inept governments that keep getting put in charge. Nova Scotia is one of the poorest provinces in Canada, and it’s not going to get any better with McNeil in power. We are taxed heavily despite having low wages, the youth find better paying jobs…
Released on Canada Day, Ryan Barry’s (AKA Red Opera) Lifestyles of the Bourgeoisie was meant to make a political statement. The rapper, who has been performing on and off in Halifax since 1998 including releasing group albums under the name Tranz Ill, dipped his toes back into the music world with this collection. When not…
Why do cyclers wear such ugly outfits? Like those tight golf-shirt type looking tops—the material looks so nasty and hot (I bet it really reeks in the pit area) and shiny spandex shorts up your arse. Ew, grab a clue. You look like an idiot. —I Don’t Brake for Arse Peddlers
For the first time in its 30-year history, the Halifax Jazz Festival’s venues will be 100 percent accessible, thanks in part to the work of local activist and former professional bassist Paul Vienneau. For Vienneau, who has been using a wheelchair since 1991, these changes have been years in the making. Vienneau performed at the…
Andre Merlo knows a good look when he sees it. He’s worked in fashion, photography and styling and even had his own line in Milan, but now he’s zeroing in on affordable, quality second-hand clothing. “I’m from Italy originally, but I’ve been coming to Halifax for 10 years on and off,” he says. “I was…
The third time is actually the charm for Spider-Man, which has five bad movies to its name in a bizarre, expensive and long-running attempt to turn this cartoon into a high-quality living thing. Andrew Garfield was in his 30s as Peter Parker; Tobey Maguire was 26 when he started this whole mess off in 2002.…
Whenever I’m trying to diagnose myself online for some symptom or another, you will always read the same comments from blowhards on the web MD forums, always saying, “you should call your doctor and make an appointment.” No shit, Sherlock. Shut the fuck up! State the obvious much? I don’t have time to make an…
After over nine years as a tucked-away upstairs gem at 1541 Barrington Street, Ciboulette Cafe & Catering is ready to sparkle a little brighter from a street-level location next-door. “We outgrew the spot many years ago, but until now I’ve been struggling to find the right venue to expand into,” says owner Brady Muller who…
This weekend is the prime time to dig to the back of your closet and dust off your old kicks—but not to worry, you don’t have to use ’em. With Phoenix Youth Programs in mind, Jesse Ingalls, Demetrious Ferguson and Courtside Sneakers (6247 Quinpool Road) will be collecting men’s and women’s gently used sneakers for…
Premiered yesterday on The Fader and brightening up everyone’s lives thereafter, Century Egg’s delightful video for “Ki Swi Kya” is a fake food lover’s dream. Directed by Chris and Susie Shapones with the inimitable production design of Emily Lawrence and a host of other local talents, this video will have you learning the synchronized moves…
Once in a while I see a man on his bike around Cunard or Bell Road, with a red trailer following behind. There’s no kid in the trailer—but an adorable beagle. He’s usually going by too quickly for me to get my phone out and take a video, but believe me when I say it…
Yesterday, the three finalists for the largest annual award to any work of art in Nova Scotia—the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award—were announced. The award was established by the Honourable Myra Freeman in 2005, and is meant to recognize “the excellence of a particular work of art or design from any media.”…
I have been sitting here all fucking day with my shoes on waiting for the mail man to come so I can cash my GST check! Yes, my broke ass needs my money! It is now 4:37pm and the postman still hasn’t come to deliver the mail! Now that all the banks are closed, I…
Indie pop mellow melody makers Wake Rider’s recently released its first eponymous full length EP, and the chillness is extremely real. The technical prowess of music students is evident here, but Eric Skinner’s icy, disaffected vocals coat it evenly, blending well with the songs, as some Diamond Dave-type (lol can you imagine) would push this…
Argyle is open for business, but you wouldn’t know it from the look of the place, and that’s causing problems for the street’s storefronts. “PLEASE help us survive,” the World Tea House screamed on Tuesday into the void of Twitter. The business is currently treading water on week six of the much-feared Argyle Street beautification…
Pollinator pathway. Bumblebee highway. River of Flowers. Bee Line. These have all described habitat corridors created to help pollinators like bees and butterflies. We can add Butterflyways to the list. Residents of Toronto and Richmond, B.C., recently celebrated official designation of neighbourhood Butterflyways. The David Suzuki Foundation began its Butterflyway Project earlier this year, recruiting…
This Tall Ships ad is the new and better Halifax and that is indisputable. For many years, this photo was Halifax. Boring. Sometimes it would be this photo, and for many people, it was this. What defined all of these cities was a severe and unimaginative lack of Photoshop. All of that is about to…
Mayor Mike Savage says both he and the Nova Scotia Assembly of Mi’kmaq Chiefs are against a protest planned to topple the statue of Edward Cornwallis. “If Mi’kmaq activists and their supporters take down the Cornwallis statue before we are given an opportunity to cooperatively forge a better way forward, we will set back progress…
After using Montreal and Toronto’s transportation it makes my time spent using Halifax Transit seem like a 10-year prison term. Halifax Transit isn’t fit for human consumption! Reading a bus schedule is like reading an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph. As much as I’m concerned for the environment; I just can’t take it anymore! I’m gonna have…
Thank to everyone who showed my daughter support at her yard sale/lemonade stand in support of our dog’s leg brace. We really appreciate all the well wishes, and donations. Much love. I love Scotians. —A Happy Mama
No person has to fit into your box of what you think chronic illness has to look like. Being accused of lying because I’m able to go out with friends now after years of isolation—fuck you. You offered me help to get me out of that state, I took it, and thank God I did—but…
I love pizza. Especially this one particular pizza joint, a lot. It’s a tradition at our house on Friday night to get delivery. We just tried to order but they no longer deliver off the peninsula. We are indeed 45 seconds passed the rotary so we are out of luck. This is a sad moment…
How many years and how much money do you have to have to get a divorce in Halifax? I am sure I have gone to court 15 times and still the lawyers in this city have not sucked enough money out of me yet? My lawyer looks at me and says “you won’t have much…
Men of Halifax who walk around topless on hot days…The streets are not the place to exhibit your bits, no matter how trimmed or fat they are. May it be known to you that you do not look appealing or even cool to any person of any gender that crosses your path. It is from…
Tammy MacDonald-Flatt is pleading: Don’t abandon your pet rabbits. “I’d take out a billboard if I had the money. Please stop dumping them outside.” MacDonald-Flatt, president of 10,000 Carrots Rabbit Rescue, says the issue is rampant. Bunnies are being ditched in parks or wooded subdivisions when they’re no longer wanted, without the means or the…
For almost three years, Shivani Dhamija’s been bringing authentic Indian flavours to people’s tables and kitchen counters via Shivani’s Kitchen which operates as both a tiffin delivery service and a host of one-on-one and group cooking classes. Now, Dhamija is adding a little extra spice to her food-based-business, offering a line of fresh, salt-free, gluten-free…
Hello, could you please just stop publishing Bitches about drivers vs. cyclists? As riveting and not played-out at all as these arguments are, it’s tiresome trying to keep up with which jerk is the biggest. Why don’t we all just concede that drivers kill 1.3 million people per year on average and cyclists disobey road…
Fifteen finalists were announced for this year’s Canadian Painting Competition, and local artist Teto Elsiddique is among them (and sometime-local Ambera Wellmann. This still counts, right?). Now in its 19th year, the juried competition chose the finalists from 682 submissions. The winners will be announced on October 17, 2017, and all 15 artists will have their…
Later this month The Coast is raising a glass (actually, over 45 of them) to cocktail culture, summertime in the city the the incoming Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta with a celebration of hydration— Tall Sips. Restaurants, bars and cafes across town are joining in on the fun, offering up special $8 alcoholic or $5…
Thanks @lukefontana & @tyleroakley. A post shared by Dylan Marron (@dylanmarron) on Jun 24, 2017 at 9:09am PDT Pride is back this July 20-30 with a lineup that goes heavy on drag and dance music. While a lot of longtime favourite events are returning (here’s looking at you, Dykes & Divas softball game), the biggest…
10 Untitled by Steven Zuo Thursday // Friday // Saturday A classically trained painter and one of the up-and-coming artists featured in The Coast’s New Art issue in January, Zuo sifts portrait-style pieces of found objects and lost people through a twisted, abstract sieve for this show at Anna Leonowens Gallery. 9 Journey to the…
In Hakodate, Japan there’s a star-shaped fort that overlooks the harbour and busy boardwalk. The port city boasts universities, colleges and a successful fishing industry. Sound familiar? Long before amalgamating with Dartmouth and Bedford in 1996, Halifax became twin to another city much further away. In 1982, mayor Ron Wallace signed a twinning agreement with…
Driving along the winding, dirt road into British Columbia’s mountains, the heavily wooded area made Fern McCuish feel like she should be on a relaxing visit to a lumber camp, but instead she was full of anxiety. This was no camp, but a prison. She was about to come face-to-face with her father’s killer, 17…
Neither Emma Richter nor Kelsey Carey think they look alike, but for their colleagues in NSCC’s public relations program, keeping them straight is a challenging feat. From nearly passing back assignments to the wrong student, to confusion at networking events, the two are often mistaken for one another. “We had one instructor who couldn’t tell…
Before its revival this spring, Twin Peaks fans spent more than a pair of decades wondering whether anagogic detective hero Agent Cooper (played by Kyle MacLachlan) had been taken over by an evil doppelgänger. In an attempt to boost ratings back in the ’90s, ABC pressured the show’s creators, David Lynch and Mark Frost, to…
Forty-five-year-old Tonya Lynn Paris is a petite five-foot-two with a large voice and strong personality. Her nature embodies that of a courageous woman, always prepared to prove her critics wrong. The single mother of three boys’ life journey showed a willingness to go against the odds. In 2015, she picked up a paintbrush. Today, under…
Around the time Twin Peaks first aired, identical twins Gary and Neil Peacock shared a dream. They were about 11 years old when Gary told his brother about his visions from the night before. It was then that Neil began describing the dream back to him. “My brother would be like ‘Wait, then did this…
Natalie Rosen was 19 years old, going through a breakup and had a one-way ticket to Iceland when she got a call from the IWK Health Centre telling her she was pregnant. “I immediately started freaking out,” says Rosen. “I asked ‘Are you sure it’s me?’ and she repeated my name and I thought ‘Oh…
OH DINA! facebook.com/ohdina etsy.com WHAT SHE DOES Nicole McInnis makes bridal headpieces and DIY flower-crown kits in Dartmouth, then ships them around the world. With a background in fashion design and costuming, her business began with vintage-inspired hats, then fascinators when Will and Kate’s royal wedding drove up demand. “It evolved into flowers, because that’s…
Coldstream Clear just opened its new storefront and distillery in Stewiacke, pouring out its flavourful vodka and rum by the landmark Mastodon Ridge. “The key was making it convenient for people to get our product,” says Riley Giffen, who started the business with his parents. The distillery’s original location, which opened in 2015, was “about…
The Italian navy training ship Amerigo Vespucci made an early berth in Halifax Harbour last month. Along with the vessel came its crew—men and women pressed neatly into white uniforms that drew attention from the moment they stepped onshore, not all of it positive. During their time in Halifax, the male sailors actively recruited women…
deadmau5 to me I love Canada and I particularly love our city. That’s why I was so excited to take in the free Canada Day concert on the Common. But unfortunately I came away, overall, disappointed. Not with all of the performers, but with some. And unfortunately I couldn’t stay for deadmau5. Best artist of…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Cancer (Jun 21-Jul 22) It’s prime time for you to break through any inhibitions you might have about accessing and expressing your passion. To help you in this righteous cause, I’ve assembled a batch of words you should be ready to use with frequency and sweet abandon. Consider writing at least part of…
Q I’m a 29-year-old straight woman facing a dilemma. I dated this guy about a year ago, and in many ways he was exactly the guy I was looking for. The main hitch was sexual. Our sex was good, but he had a fetish where he wanted me to sleep with other guys. Basically, he…
