Happy Friday Halifax,

I’m going to share something embarrassing with you because I feel like we’re in the trust tree and I can be vulnerable.

I just spent maybe 10 minutes googling “How old is Halifax turning this year?” and then trying to do calculations because I thought Natal Day was Halifax’s birthday. I thought if you take 1749 and 2024 and math, you find out how old Halifax is and THAT’s what we’re celebrating. 

Yeah, it’s not. (Sort of.)

Natal Day used to be celebrated on June 21 to commemorate Halifax’s founding (ah-ha!). But then in 1895, Halifax and Dartmouth leaders were like “this June thing is not popping off and we have a new railway coming in, so let’s party for that instead.” And everyone was like “August it is.” But in the most Halifax thing ever, the railway line was delayed, so they just went ahead with the party anyway. And then in 1906, the rest of the province was like “hey, we want to get in on this arbitrary celebration of no railway” and now we all have a day off work.

Aaaaanyway, there’s lots of fun stuff going on this weekend. The Busker Festival kicks off with stages all over downtown. The Crescendo Festival is going to be a wicked celebration of Black music. And if you have never walked or run over the bridge (it’s fun), there’s an opportunity to do that with the Harbour Bridges MACPass Miles. Here’s a list of all the events going on this weekend.

Enjoy it and leave the fireworks to the professionals. 🎆

– Julie

Today: 🌦️ 28°

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 29°

Next Day: 🌦️ 28°

7-day forecast

🚗 Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.

💨 Here is Halifax’s Air Quality Index and the smoke report.

Fans of folk art will want to get themselves down to Lunenburg this Sunday, Aug 4 for the annual Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival.

Running from 12pm to 4pm at the Lunenburg War Memorial Arena (19 Green Street, Lunenburg), the festival brings together 50 of the province’s greatest folk artists, whether they be sculptors, carvers, metalworkers, quilters or painters.

“One of the strengths of the festival is you are buying art from the artist,” says management committee chairperson Sue Kelly. “They are there to interpret their art, if you should have a question as to what motivated them or why they made it themselves.

“Folk art is generally art created by the untrained from their spontaneous inner self.”

The annual event, happening this year for the 34th time, attracts hundreds of collectors from all over the continent to check out one-of-a-kind artworks, but with so many people, the line can get rather long. Kelly says some show up around 8am to secure a spot near the front of the queue, giving them a better chance to purchase what they’d like.

However, it’s not all about buying. Viewing the art is an important piece of the festival, so artworks that are purchased aren’t removed from the festival until 1pm so everyone has a chance to see it before it goes off to the buyer. There is also a folk art exhibition of over 100 early and contemporary pieces in the Silver Building (184 Lincoln Street, Lunenburg) from July 14 to Aug 11, as well as a traditional auction beginning at 2pm on Sunday.

The entry fee for the festival is $5 until 3pm, when it becomes free to enter. Children under 12 also get in for free.

For more information on the festival, such as what artists are participating, check out their website.

💙 The premier and other officials gathered yesterday morning to mark Emancipation Day—held every Aug 1 to mark the date the British parliament voted to abolish slavery across its empire in 1834.

🏠 An independent monitor says Nova Scotia’s progress on moving people with disabilities out of institutions is “slower and more uneven” than called for in a landmark human rights decision.

🚨 Halifax police are investigating a suspicious fire at a Dartmouth residence on Wednesday morning. They believe the fire was started outside the residence.

Bidding closes on August 8th featuring art from Maurice Cullen, Dusan Kadlec, Bruno Coté, Anthony Law, René Hébert, John Cook, Pegi Nicol MacLeod, Hal Ross Perrigard, Jack Humphrey, William Yorke, John Little. 

Plus estate jewellery, handwoven carpets, Lorenzen mushrooms & pottery, sterling, campaign chest, c.1835, Deichmann & Nita des Barres pottery, and musical instruments.

The city’s Environment and Sustainability Committee met on the first day of August, and started that meeting with two presentations before moving on to their agenda of making sure we have enough clean drinking water.

The first presentation was from LungNSPEI, which gave the committee a look at the dangers of radon, the second-leading cause of lung cancer in Canada. 

The second presentation was from Bird Friendly Halifax, giving an update on what they’ve done since the HRM declared itself a bird-friendly city in 2022—mainly some awareness campaigns and a pilot project to give out window stickers to prevent bird strikes. 

The Coast’s Matt Stickland has more information on those two presentations, plus everything else you need to know about what happened at Thursday’s meeting.

🪚 As the province faces a shortage of skilled tradespeople, the NS government has announced a program to increase the number of journeypersons by giving them a $2,500 incentive to train apprentices.

🥀 A mom begs for answers three months after her son—36-year-old Tyrell Beals—was shot in North Preston in what the RCMP called “no random act.”

⚡ The Canadian and German governments are taking the next step to launch Atlantic Canada's hydrogen export industry—announcing a $6M commitment for projects in Eastern Canada.

👀 The Nova Scotia RCMP has charged a 36-year-old Tennecape man for allegedly submitting more than 300 false insurance claims in 2022.

🖼️ A new exhibit at the Museum of Immigration explores Canada's connection to slavery and the role it played in the settlement of this country.

🥊 Nova Scotia boxer Wyatt Sanford will be bringing home a medal from the Paris Olympics—it's just a matter of which colour it will be. His final bout is on Sunday.

Looking for something to do this week? Check out these Coast picks:

🗓 Dear Rita Presented by Neptune Theatre: A musical celebration of Rita MacNeil—the iconic Canadian storyteller who invited us to see ourselves in her music. Rita herself said her life story is “something you could pretty well put anyone into. It’s about one person, but so many of us could be there.” Cape Breton playwright Lindsay Kyte was chosen by Rita’s son, Wade Langham, to develop this show, featuring a cast of six and band, and new, re-imagined arrangements of Rita’s music by PEI composer/musician Mike Ross. | July 30-Aug 25 | From $33

🗓 BuskerFest 2024: With stages at the Halifax Seaport, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Sackville Landing, Foundation Wharf and Dartmouth’s Alderney Landing, the 38th edition of Buskers will provide locals and visitors alike with exciting and unique entertainment. | July 31-Aug 5 | PWYC

🗓 Shakespeare By The Sea presents Alice in the Wonderland: Eat Me! Drink Me! The smash hit original SBTS musical based on Lewis Carroll's classic story is back! Grab your friends and the whole family and fall down the rabbit hole! This 80-minute romp features a wildly inventive script and wonderfully musical score that will have you laughing and singing along with a curious young girl named Alice, and an even curiouser cast of characters of Queens, Cards, White Rabbits, Mad Hatters and Cheshire Cats. | July 6-Aug 31 | From $10

🗓 Shakespeare By The Sea presents Twelfth Night: Shakespeare’s most complete comedy returns to Point Pleasant Park this summer in a high-energy production full of laughs, sighs and music. Inspired by Vaudeville Theatres of the early 20th century, eight actors take on some of Shakespeare’s most iconic characters in this fast-paced, hilarious version of the classic. | July 18-Aug 30 | From $10

🗓 Dartmouth Festival Series—Crescendo Festival: Don’t miss this event designed to turn up the volume on Black music artists and put a spotlight on our talented music community. Crescendo is a hub that will create space for other Black Music artists to engage from across Atlantic Canada. | Aug 3 | 6:00pm | Free

🗓By The Pound Thrift at IKEA Halifax: Forget about price tags! Find vintage gems, classic staples, and more, all priced by weight. Plus, every purchase supports By The Pound’s mission to keep clothing out of landfills and promote a circular economy. | Aug 3-4 | 10:00am | Free 

🗓The Deck Box Magic the Gathering Commander Fest: Welcome to commander fest where the rules are made up and the points don’t matter! This casual event with prizes awarded by completing a Commander BINGO card. Everyone can change their deck every round so be sure to bring your craziest combos tailored tribals ascetic aggro or your manic midranges. | Aug 3 | 1:00pm | $50

Have an event to share? Let us know at [email protected].

🛳️➡️ The Siem Confucius container ship arrives in Halifax from Emden at 5:55am and leaves for Jacksonville at 1:00pm.

🛳️➡️ The Bakkafoss container ship arrives in Halifax from Portland at 6:45am and leaves for Argentia at 6:00pm.

🛳️➡️ The Nolhan Ava container ship arrives in Halifax from St. Pierre at 8:15am and leaves for Argentia at 11:00pm.

🛳️➡️ The Zim Virginia container ship arrives in Halifax from Valencia at 5:20am and leaves for New York at 11:00pm.

🛳️ The NYK Rigel container ship arrives in Halifax from Southampton at 3:20pm.

➡️ The Oceanex Sanderling container ship leaves Halifax for St. John’s at 6:00pm.

🍦 New flavour drop at Dairy Bar! It’s Raspberry and the sundae is the Razzle Dazzle: raspberry soft serve, rose shortbread and juice lemon curd.

🍔 Check out the Deli Belly Burger at Peppercorn’s Eatery: local Angus beef served on a soft brioche bun and topped with flavourful onion bhaji, refreshing cucumber mint raita and zesty pico de gallo.

🛒 Announced on Tuesday, July 23, the Nova Scotia Loyal program seeks to supply national grocery chain Sobeys and the provincial liquor corporation with the means to promote local goods. Although any big box or independent store can pick up the Nova Scotia Loyal branding, the points program is currently exclusive to just those two stores. A report obtained by The Coast gives some insight into why the program took the turn that it did. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer digs into the report and how the Nova Scotia Loyal program could have been very different.

🪧 Dalhousie University reopened its Halifax campuses Wednesday after unexpectedly shutting down on Monday, following the police removal of a coaltion of pro-Palestinian students who had camped on the Studley quad since May. The Coast’s education reporter Lauren Phillips has been providing in-depth coverage on the pro-Palestinian encampment, and has more on the removal.

Thanks for reading The Coast Daily today, and have a great long weekend.

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