Hot Summer Guide

Anne of Green Gables is drawing Prince William and Kate Middleton to PEI this summer, but you’d be hard-pressed to name a book that would entice royalty to Halifax. Nova Scotia’s literature too often draws on pastoral tradition or promotes the lighthouses-and-bagpipes image of the province on view along the waterfront. So, where’s Halifax’s urban […]

Start by taking the ferry across the harbour. It’s like being “Screeched In” in Newfoundland, really. Well, you’ll be less hammered at the end of the experience, but you’ll feel like a local. Depending on the time of year, you could be enveloped in a pea-soup fog or get the best harbour view to be […]

Off the beaten path of Spryfield’s main drag, down a quiet suburban street, both prizefighters and plebes gather under the blaze of fluorescent lights in the Lion’s Club to throw their weight around in the ring and throw delighted scorn from the sidelines. The Lion’s gymnasium is the regular stomping grounds for a loose band […]

To July 3 Second Impressions Image, text and sound interplay in print media artist Dan O’Neill’s curation of lithographs, poetry and cool jazz. When curator Peter Dykhuis asked O’Neill to imagine an exhibition of Motherwell and de Kooning lithographs—limited edition prints paired with the poetry of Octavio Paz and Frank O’Hara, respectively—he jumped at the […]

Well, it’s hard to get much cooler than Taz Records (1593 Market Street) if you’re looking to familiarize yourself with the best music. Ask them to show you local artists among the great vinyl. Start there, then figure out where you’re going to eat, drink and take in some live music. This area of downtown, […]

It’s pushing 2am and an exhausted downtown bartender is wailing “last call.” But your restless feet just want to keep dancing and you could drink until first light, if not longer. Fear not! This guide is for anyone who understands that a diner breakfast ought to be the last—not first—meal of the day. Keep dancing […]

To start way at the top of the peninsula, take the 18 or 82 bus up to Fairview Cemetery, at the north end of Windsor Street. Its appeal largely rests on being the burial site of 121 victims of the Titanic sinking in April, 1912. From there, take the bus back down down to Almon, […]

You thrill to the green grass springing to life on Halifax’s iconic hill, basking in the sun as you lay on that slope. (Or in winter, slide down its icy side.) Maybe you even walk along the stone fortress, or get up close every couple of years to witness the command of the noon cannon, […]

A good place to start is the Seaport Farmers’ Market (1209 Marginal Road, halifaxfarmersmarket.com), open Tuesday to Sunday from 8am (actually 7am on Saturdays, for you keeners). The new building is home to the longest running market in North America, selling both fresh, Nova Scotia produce, Atlantic seafood and other homemade treats, you’ll find plenty […]

JUNE The Tree of Life Newly begarlanded at Cannes, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life has earned comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey. which is a tough connection to make given the pastoral, 1950s suburban glow of the trailer, where strict father Brad Pitt leaves lasting scars on his son’s psyche, manifesting in grown-up Sean […]

As the operators of a semi-legal backyard trash-movie cinema, my friends and I know we’re not particularly unique in Halifax. Many other fine outdoor cinemas have preceded us, including the alFresco filmFesto, which is basically a really big backyard that happens to include the waterfront, and the Roxy, which used to take place behind an […]