This year was a stellar year for the Nocturne crew. Considering it's all volunteer, it was VERY…read morewell planned and perfectly executed. Their use of social media was outstanding this year (which last year lacked). Facebook and twitter were a buzz with Nocturne posts. The atmosphere on the street was awesome. Happy, relaxed, and just plain 'ol fun. It was easy to tell the "bar goers" from the "Nocturne crawlers" from the way they were dressed, Nocturnites were sporting layers, whilst the bar people sported mini skirts that could have been belts (not that I'm complaining). Many small businesses stayed open late to accommodate the 20,000+ people that hit Halifax for the evening. It's good to see a city pull together for an art event, now that we see the cities potential we need to do it more (not just art events). 5 stars all the way Nocturne! Already looking forward and planning next year!

Wow! How can you not give this event a strong five. The work alone that was put into it, I thought…read morewas fabulous. This was my first time being part of this event and what a night it turned out to be. I was amazed at the amount of people that filled out streets, around five thousand I believe. My favorite was the "Car Wash", that song along brought back memories. The waterfront had a fabulous outdoor acrobatic event. Also - we went to where you could talk on a cell phone to people around the world, our person was in Cambodia. I will say, I think they need to make it a two day event next year. There was too much for us to cover and it had so many zones in all areas of the downtown core, it even expanded to Dartmouth which I hear had a roller rink, how cool is that. One thing Please: Put the map and details up sooner on the website for everyone to look at so you can map out your evening or you could do as us, roll the dice and hope you hit something you like. I loved the DD bus to get from zone to zone. See you on the streets!

I honestly think live theatre performances can intimidate some people. They are often perceived as…read moreexpensive, lengthy and stuffy. Thankfully, we have Fringe to combat that! If you've never been to (or heard of) Fringe before, it's an annual theatre festival made up of smaller, independent and alternative plays. Some are locally works; some have toured internationally. Some are making their grand debut; others have been around for years. Many of the plays are short, they don't cost much and no one's expecting you to get all gussied up to go see them. And the topics? Range wildly. Everything from the life of sex workers to exploring someone's imagination to domestic violence to the changing nature of friendships to robot apocalypses. And they're everywhere! Fringe is hosted at a variety of venues across the city and each play has multiple performances at a weird mix of times so you'll almost definitely be able to fit it into your schedule. Seriously, get some theatre in your life, people.

If you love Christmas lights, this parade is for you. People do an amazing job on the floats and it…read moreis a lot of fun to watch. My only complaint is the cold can make it a bit uncomfortable so be sure to bundle up and be prepared for massive crowds and traffic.

It's been suggested that there isn't a bigger fan of Polish Fest than I, potentially even within…read morethe Polish community. 2011 will either be my sixth or seventh time attending Polish Fest, and this is not including the other Polish events I've attended at St. Anthony's Parish in Dartmouth. Polish Fest is one of my favourite weekends of the year. I anticipate it highly for months, then weeks, the days, then hours! The madness began when a friend of mine mentioned he danced in a Polish dance group in Dartmouth. With intense curiosity and intrigue, I gathered a posse and we headed to Dartmouth to check out Polish Fest. All it took was hammering a few glasses of straight Polish vodka, enjoying a bit of cake, and being blown away by some fine Polish Folk dancing. I was hooked. Polish Fest is a celebration of Polish heritage and culture. The main focus of the festival is showcasing the work of Pomorze, Dartmouth's amazingly talented and hardworking Polish dance ensemble. Its members range from young kids to older adults, and the dresses are colourful, gorgeous and a definite sight to behold-- especially when being twirled around in the air, seemingly effortlessly, by buff gents in handsome wool suits and boots. The dancing itself is worth the visit alone, but there're other activities, displays and events each year. The event itself is free, and you pay reasonable prices for food, drinks, authentic crafts, and tickets to win door prizes as you wish. I'm vegetarian so I haven't tried many of the delicious dishes available at Polish Fest, but there are many delights to be had including pierogies (which I tried last year-- whoa!), Hunter's Stew, sausages with sauerkraut, a wide and never-ending array of homemade desserts. For an event that's not so vegetarian friendly, I have insane amounts of fun anyway and always seem to get enough to eat. There's constantly a smile on my face while at Polish Fest every year. It's the perfect place to hang out with friends and drink various Polish beers or vodka under a tent while being wowed by Polish dancing and general Polish awesomeness all day. Oh, and there's a dance for everyone after that, where the real mayhem goes down. It's easy and fun to spend an entire day at Polish Fest just hanging out. My friend no longer dances with Pomorze, but we'll both likely attend Polish Fest as long as we're still living in Halifax. I cant' wait until June!

Waterfront festival staging area was extremely inhospitable. Saturday afternoon 2:00, wiltingly…read morehot. Not a lick of shade. No seats. Someone guarding a bunch of plastic chairs. Not sure what that was about. Performers singing and for 20 (?) people. Unclear what we were allowed to bring and what we weren't. Not like any jazz festival I have ever attended. Other smaller venues were much better (hydrostone was fantastic). But the main stage...dismal

A great festival that brings some amazing musical acts to Halifax each and every summer…read more The have all kinds of different acts to choose from, with the cost of the act varying the entire time as well. The waterfront location provides a beautiful backdrop for the main stage to look out on, but this festival is so much more than just a one stage act. There are musical acts all over the city throughout the week that you are able to take in and enjoy. The afternoon's down on the waterfront stage are free, and a great chance to have your kids and yourself, get a break from the Biebers and the Britney's of the world. To see where the real music came from. All the samples they hear in the back round of what is passed off as pop these days. So get out Halifax, and soak up some good old fashioned jazz music.

I should start by saying that I am really not a sci-fi or comic buff. I don't participate in…read morecosplay or steampunk or watch Anime in my spare time. However, I do enjoy the occasional supernatural or sci-fi movie and tv show, and above all I can respect the creativity and passion of those that ARE sci-fi/comic buffs! Hal-Con is like the mecca for my local city's contigent of such folks. I actually attended as a volunteer for Yelp Halifax Saturday morning, then attended the events in the afternoon with my sister and boyfriend (who is part of the sci-fi/comic buff group previously mentioned), more out of curiosity than anything. I had never been to such an event before, and wanted to see what it was like. I had SO much fun. I didn't buy anything that the vendors were selling, and to be honest I would never really do so since (again) this stuff really isn't my thing. However, I enjoyed looking and admiring everything so much - some of the detail and technical knowledge that goes into making the models, pictures and costumes that filled the rooms everywhere I looked was mind-boggling. Plus the crowd was just "nice" - people were actually saying 'excuse me' and 'sorry' when they bumped into you, which was a revelation. The real reason I attended this year was to take my sister to meet Nicholas Brendon, aka Xander Harris from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I succeeded! (see attached photographic proof). I totally turned into a dorky superfan upon meeting him, I am not even going to lie. Even though the meeting was about 1 minute from start-to-finish (hello, photo, goodbye) it was still the highlight of my day. I mean, come on, what person who was a teenager in the mid-to-late 90's did NOT watch Buffy and want live in it?! (No? Just me? Oh....ok) The event seemed super busy and the crowd seemed to be enjoying everything, so I would say kudos to the organizers. This looks good for next year! Even though I had no idea what 90% of the costumes or references were, I still had a great time.

Without any legitimate claim to nerd or geek status (I always admit that I am, at best,…read moregeek-adjacent), I was a little nervous committing to a full weekend at Hal-Con. I pictured hoards of people giving me the side-eye whenever I gawked at their incredible costumes, or rolling their eyes when I bashfully asked questions about their hobbies. Well, guess what? Even without knowing much about anything happening throughout the weekend, I felt 100% welcome among this crowd of misfits, I learned so much about things I didn't even know existed (Steampunk, anyone?), and only felt weirded out whenever the furries were around. From my perspective, it was a five-star experience with more to see and do than even our region's largest and most popular festivals and events. *The exhibition space hosted tons of incredible local vendors with everything from Nintendo plush toys to locally authored and illustrated books and comics, making it easy to support local shops. *The artist aisle did the same for artisan wares from zombie brain egg holders (it makes sense when you see 'em), to cardboard dolls of The Big Bang Theory and Jem and the Hollograms. *Two massive games room meant easy access to just about any board, video, card or even pinball game you can imagine. And all this is happening at the same time as countless workshops, panels, autograph signings, and interviews, not to mention my favourite activity of running up to strangers in incredible costumes and getting photos of their most epic poses. Easier than you'd think! The few kinks: 1) ATMs were accessible but scarce, 2) not much food or drink on site, 3) and holy moly was the schedule ever overwhelming. That last one's a good thing, but it was tough to keep tabs on everything you wanted to check out. Well worth checking out next year!

I was invited to one of the segments on one of the days the festival was going on a couple weekends…read moreago.... and I LOVED it! It was the Gospel segment on a Sunday. And the term Gospel was loosely used...mostly just folk music from all over the region... there was all kinds of music played during this segment. And the pure, raw talent of all of the performers were just so fantastic to listen to. Also, I can't say enough about the production they put in... They flawlessly transitioned between performer and performer on the one stage without delays or fumbling around...and at the end, all of them on the one stage all together at one time, it was really a great event. I would recommend this to locals and visitors alike! Don't miss out next year.

From the owner: The Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival brings the best in traditional and contemporary folk music to…read morethe beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. We are Nova Scotia's longest-running folk festival and have showcased great Nova Scotian, Canadian, and international talent during our 25 years. We are proud to have introduced many of the Maritimes' best-loved musicians to a wider audience on our stages. Lunenburg literally bursts at the seams with music and Festival goers during the four days of Folk Harbour. With a long history of good weather (knock wood), fantastic music, and unmatched atmosphere, music lovers of all ages are in for non-stop entertainment.

Movies outdoors on the Halifax waterfront? Fantastic idea!…read more I especially love when they have singalongs!

This is what makes summertime in Halifax great…read more Watching movies with your pals under the stars with the harbour at your back. It makes me feel all romantic about this sometimes frustrating city. This summer, the fine folks at the Atlantic Film Festival have outdone themselves. The alFresco filmFesto programme will be... The Summer of Murray. Bill. Murray. Six glorious nights of Bill Murray. My friends, this is going to be a magical summer. One can only assume that Bill Murray will smile down upon us and bless our fair hamlet with his wisdom, humour, and grace. And mad golf skills. I cannot wait.

We went down to catch the Pride Parade today. Wow what a parade, it was spectacular and there were…read morehundred of spectators lining the street to cheer on this wonderful event. Halifax was hopping today, after the Parade you could go to the Garrison Grounds where there were many vendors set up for you to sample their products. There were things there for kids, adults, youth, you name it, they had it covered. There was a stage set up with live music as well. It really was a great festival to attend. I hope you enjoy the pictures!! After this show, if you wanted you could go to catch the huge concert on the commons, The Black Eyed Peas!!! See you there! Halifax was rockin this weekend!!!

Another reason why our city rocks socks? Halifax has the largest Pride festival in Atlantic Canada,…read moreand continues to get bigger, better and more embraced by everyone as each year passes. It seems that this upcoming event (July 18-25) is packing some serious heat, with over 140 floats, bands and other sites throughout the city dedicated to Pride times. Whether you're gay, lesbian, transgender, bi or straight, this is an event thats all about LOVE. It doesn't matter who, just love and be loved... and celebrate that. People of all kinds can come together and celebrate the freedom of lifestyle, and this is very much a positive statement for our city as a whole. The infamous parade is only the beginning. Plays, food and drink specials, sports games, live entertainment+djs, free cover, comedy nights, a boat cruise--- the list goes on and on! I'd suggest picking up an agenda (available at most local businesses/ grocery stores) and reading through the day-by-day schedule. There is a lot planned, so checking out the options seems to be a good strategy. I noticed that The Cliks are playing on July 24th... a band I discovered during my L Word days. How fun. I absolutely love the downtown energy buzzing around during Pride Week. Everyone is in good spirits, and its all about that infectious bout of free choice. The next two weeks are sure to be action packed, so get out, embrace, and have a gay ol' time!