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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.
You’re far from perfect, but so am I. I doubt I’ll ever leave you, but even if I do we’ll know we had a great time growing and changing together. —There are so many reasons why I love this town
I was excited to see your band: We are peers in the scene and wanted to show some support for fellow musicians on the rare weekend I’m not playing, too. I was feeling stoked: until your guitar player revealed himself as the most ungrateful sad boy prick goin’. Let’s set the scene: The band sounds…
The forget-me-nots are out again, and you’re back on my brain. Not that you ever leave for too long. Like those little blue flowers, you always come back. —I knew where to look for you…
Am I just confused or did you tweet a giant rainbow display with “Happy Pride” signage this week? Last I checked Pride is celebrated during July here in Halifax. LGBTQ+ Pride (month/week) is celebrated at different times in different parts of the world. Seriously–do a quick google check. Shockingly us queers don’t walk around saying…
Family Hangover Friday, June 9 walrustheband.bandcamp.com The rock band Walrus, which makes woozy, trippy throwback music, has been building its recorded output steadily for the past five years. The quartet started small, song by song, with split tapes, expanded to the EP format with Glam Returns in 2014, followed by another four songs a year…
Thanks to the Canadian Taxpayer Federation for bringing up the issue of MLA pensions again. This province needs to live within its means and to do that there is a need for an appropriate type of pension for the politicians. Two other things I wish they would look at: 1) The issue of public sector…
The 2017 spring/summer collection from Halifax-based designer Maggie Jayne launches tonight at Lion and Bright. The Maggie Jayne clothing line is a collaboration between locations: Halifax and fair trade garment manufacturers in Pushkar, India. The one-woman operation is run by Maggie MacCormick, who travels between Halifax and India to oversee production. The new collection features…
Electro Femmes: A Technology Focused Workshop Series July 29, 10am to 3pm CKDU, Dalhousie University Student Union Building Three local women are looking to support artists who want to work in digital media—specifically, women and non-binary folks. Grace Stratton, Francella Fiallos and Danielle Jakubiak are putting together Electro Femmes: A Technology Focused Workshop Series coming…
To the blind woman on Gottingen Street Monday night: You were trying to cross at the light at Cornwallis and the beeper was broken so you couldn’t tell if you could go or not. I watched you tentatively step out into the street just as my light was about to turn green. I tried to…
After its first effort fell short, Dalhousie University is once again asking the public to design a replacement for its ceremonial mace. The school is hoping to swap out its oak-carved graduation horcrux for a symbol that better reflects Dal’s diversity and values. A request for proposals issued this week is seeking submissions from the…
Do you remember Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak? It turns out wizards aren’t the only ones who can vanish from sight with a special coat. Marine researchers have discovered shrimp-like crustaceans called hyperiids that can hide in the open using internal nanotechnology to cloak themselves in invisibility. That’s just one among many fascinating discoveries to celebrate…
You cheated and then lied over and over. You refused to earn my trust back, but still blame me for leaving. When you grow up you’re going to be sad and lonely. I don’t hate you, but I think you’re pathetic. I’m going to Michelle Obama this shit and go high, because you’re about as…
Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble is calling for stories of women involved in relief efforts after the Halifax Explosion. The Hours Turn to Nothing, Xara’s collaboration with author Ami McKay, premiered in Halifax in April. Despite the evidence that women were needed and present following the explosion, they’ve largely been excluded from the narrative. “A number…
After getting into a pretty crappy accident on the night of June 3, we had the absolute pleasure of being taken care of by some of the best humans I have ever met. EMS, Halifax Regional Police and Fire, tow truck drivers, passing pedestrians, and commissionaires were quick to the scene and took care of…
I’m stretching my skins, elastic band but reaching through. Climbing into your rhythms, you didn’t think anyone could. But I scream into the air like you, those naked tracks of silence, flashes of pain, pressing blue. —Hitting repeat
…you use your bare hands to add toppings to my fries. No. Please. Use tongs or wear gloves, I don’t know where your hands have been, and, dude, it must be a health violation. I want to keep coming back, I really do, but this makes me throw up a little in my mouth. —Cootie…
Why are all the taxi cab dispatchers in this city grumpy pieces of trash? Every time, every company, the dispatcher sounds like I’m doing something wrong. Why so shitty? My job sucks too, lots of people hate their job. You don’t, and really shouldn’t take it out on the customers. Bring on Uber! —Paying customer…
Have you been there? Not like this.
Great job to the long-haired dude that helped me today at a certain brewing company on Gottingen close to Citadel Hill. You were very friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and a generally cool cat. You really seemed to enjoy what you were doing and are a definite ppl person. Thanks for introducing me to some new flavours!…
Can you guys who must stop at every junction in the Macdonald Bridge just get over it! You are slowing the traffic sometimes to a halt causing unnecessary delay, increased transportation costs and environmental damage. The bumps on the bridge are no worse than many you will find in highways. You do not have to…
Here’s an idea…How about those who vote in an election are saved to the voter registry and are automatically allowed to vote in the next election. Those who didn’t vote, for whatever reason, are removed from the voter registry and must submit an application if they wish ever to vote again. That way those who…
Doors Open Halifax is back again this weekend, for its fifth year celebrating the city’s historical and modern architecture. Saturday and Sunday, June 3 and 4, all are welcome to pop inside over 30 venues (from 10am-4pm) for a free behind-the-scenes look at some of the city’s more intriguing structures. For disclosure’s sake, we should…
Just sitting here reading about the lack of participation in the recent Nova Scotia provincial election and how it seems to be a mystery to most people. Why aren’t people coming out to vote? I think the message is clear. We don’t trust any of the leaders or parties and we don’t care enough to…
The family court system in Halifax is a joke. It favours women waaaaay too much, and not in a good way. Paying child support for a kid that lives with you to a mother that has nothing to do with the child is ridiculous. And when you have shared custody, no one should pay child…
The results are in for the second most important election in the province: The harbour ferry naming contest. As if that classic Heritage Minute weren’t enough, Halifax hero Vincent Coleman will be memorialized by having his name painted on the next ferry. Over the course of the 10-day naming contest, 11,014 votes were tallied, with…
Halifax Pride is nixing booths from its festival grounds ahead of this year’s celebration. The change was announced late last month, several months after October’s tumultuous AGM, during which a “pinkwashing motion” brought forth by members of Queer Arabs of Halifax (QAH) was voted down. According to the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project, pinkwashing usually…
“It’s a very kinetic season,” says Randy Glynn, Live Art Dance’s Artistic Director. The company known for bringing the crème de la crème of Canadian dance to Halifax is celebrating its 35th season. The upcoming roster of seven shows includes two Indigenous dance companies, a highly acclaimed ensemble from Spain, as well as local dance…
Punny folks and cafe connoisseurs Saf Haq and Lisa Brow are whispering sweet nothings into south end ears this month. The pair—who worked together at Two If By Sea—are opening their own cafe and bakery, Tart & Soul Cafe at 6389 Coburg Road, where Springhouse (formerly Fruition) recently closed up shop, in mid-June. “We both…
Why have an “Election Day” when polls are open for weeks before the day the votes are finally counted? Sounds more like Election Month. Have an actual Election Day with one day of advance polling. —The End
If you don’t vote, that is your right. That is entirely your right to exercise or choose not to exercise. However, people don’t have to act like they respect your apathy. —One of the 53 percent
Photographer Meg Yoshida was in OBEY Convention mode all weekend long, and we get to reap the benefits. Take a detailed trip down memory lane at the fun, wonderful and varied events that OBEY Convention’s 10th year provided. all photos by Meg Yoshida. Related Stories
Cinq à Sept at Good Robot June 1, 5-7pm Good Robot Brewing The Atlantic Fringe Festival is going into its 27th year with a new name: The Halifax Fringe Festival. Executive director Lee-Anne Poole believes it will better represent the event, which she calls “one of the city’s biggest festivals that a lot of people…
10 My Week On Welfare screening Thursday Filmmaker (and former welfare recipient) Jackie Torrens chronicles the stories of several welfare recipients and their struggles in this powerful documentary. 9 PACO ride Sunday A leisurely five kilometre bike ride around downtown Dartmouth followed by a BYOT (bring your own toppings) pizza party at the Park Avenue…
Valerie, a brand new ambient dream pop/shoegaze/reverb concoction from Shawn McNally (guitar), Caleb Schriver (bass), Kayla Stevens (guitar), and Ryan Brown (drums) and Palmer Jamieson (guitar and vocals), came together “out of luck.” Our luck, really. “Caleb joined by a recommendation from our pal Dexter. It took a little to convince her, but Kayla joined in…
There Might Be Others Directed and choreographed by Rebecca Lazier, music by Dan Trueman Sunday, June 4 at 7pm Sir James Dunn Theatre, 6101 University Avenue $35 scotiafestival.ns.ca/concerts-tickets What happens when 15 dancers and 12 musicians take the stage together? “People who have seen the show before say it feels like humanity in action,” says…
On a recent Sunday afternoon in May, Michelle Coffin’s doorbell rang. Leaving her apartment to answer it, she was surprised to find her upstairs neighbours already in the shared vestibule of their building. Just beyond them stood the Liberal MLA seeking re-election in her riding, Labi Kousoulis. Next to him, to bolster support, was federal…
Mobius Percussion Thursday, June 1 at 7pm Sir James Dunn Theatre, 6101 University Avenue $35 The Mobius Percussion group is often described as a chamber music quartet, but to hear them perform is to know they don’t fit squarely into any box. “We are all over the map,” says member Mika Godbole. The quartet, which…
Author and musician Jason Murray decided to write A Distorted Revolution—his part-memoir, part-rock bio about Moncton’s own Eric’s Trip—after seeing a poster of the band in Sydney, Australia on the wall of a record store, and talking to the staff about their love of the band from his own hometown. “After I left I started…
I’m sitting in Cornwallis Park feeling useless. However, that’s not the best way to begin: focusing on my own feelings when I want to tell you about a powerful performance piece by Indigenous artist Raven Davis. Did I mention that I am a white person, a settler, a guest on these unceded Mi’kmaq lands? Davis…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Gemini (May 21-Jun 20) “The most intense moments the universe has ever known are the next 15 seconds,” said philosopher Terence McKenna. He was naming a central principle of reality: that every new NOW is a harvest of everything that has ever happened; every fresh moment is a blast of novelty that arises…
Bearly’s House of Blues & Ribs 1269 Barrington Street There’s a sign in the parking lot of Bearly’s, gleaming white with newness. “Amazing BBQ chicken ‘n ribs!” it shouts in retro blue and red, an arrow with Bearly’s written on it pointing towards the House of Blues and Ribs. It’s the kind of sign that,…
Q I’m a middle-aged homo trying to figure out Grindr. Is it impolite to go on Grindr if you’re not looking for an immediate hookup? My preferred form of sexual relationship is the friend-with-benefits situation. I go on Grindr looking to make friends who could, at least potentially, be sex partners, but I like to…
Armoyan’s circus Concerning the 20-to-29 storey building developer George Armoyan’s APL Properties is planning for the corner of Quinpool Road and Robie Street: APL first delayed its formal public hearing on April 25, 2017, on very short notice. And Mr. Armoyan has done it again, when on the Friday before the Victoria Day long weekend…
Rozina Darvesh and Peter Burbridge struck gold last weekend. The co-owners of North Brewing Company took home two gold trophies with their first-time entries at the Canadian Brewing Awards, which took place in Ottawa. North’s Gus’ 65m Ale was the victor in the Belgian Abbey/Pale category and its Midnight Glenora Barrel-Aged in the Wood and…
WHO SHE IS Jessie Wright is the maker behind JAW Pottery, and her wheel’s been spinning up a storm lately. “I solidly spend at least two eight-to-10 hour days in the studio, and evenings after work I do a few things,” she says. “Every day now I’m firing the kiln.” Her line of mugs, bowls,…
