Let the Games begin (at last)

HALIFAX JAZZ FESTIVAL

Tonight at Jazz Fest, a free tribute to The Band

It’s day three of HJF, and tonight at the main stage on Halifax’s waterfront is the festival’s annual free concert (with donations accepted if you can contribute). The show is The Last Waltz Halifax, a tribute to The Band’s final gig—which the Jazz Fest reminds us was only “one of the greatest concerts of all time.” King Harvest, a dedicated east coast The Band cover band, will be backing a host of other local performers including Terra Spencer, Jah'Mila and Ryan Cook in what’s sure to be one of the greatest concerts of Thursday.

As for the rest of Halifax Jazz Festival’s 2023 edition, we’ve got everything you need to know.

Need to know

⚖️ Nova Scotia’s government says the judge it dismissed from the Desmond fatality inquiry last week rejected an offer for help.

🔎 A sexual assault nurse who collected rape evidence of a Nova Scotia woman in 2018 told Halifax’s police review board that an officer who handled the woman’s file seemed to blame the woman for her alleged rape.

🚔 Halifax’s Board of Police Commissioners has started discussions around integrating the Halifax Regional Police and RCMP’s duties across the HRM—this, after council noticed the two police forces don’t seem to work all that well together.

🏊‍♂️ The HRM has closed Lake Echo Beach to swimming “until further notice” due to high bacteria levels in the water.

☀️ Love free summer concerts and entertainment? Join us for the 2023 Dartmouth Sunshine Series - every weekend at the Dartmouth Ferry Terminal until August 7!*

🏅 Sport. Culture. Legacy. A week of sport and culture events, all open to the public. The 2023 North American Indigenous Games are coming Jul. 15-23. Learn more at NAIG2023.com.*

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY NEPTUNE THEATRE

Jonathan Torrens Takes the Neptune Stage

This fall, Neptune Theatre presents the award-winning production The Play That Goes Wrong featuring TV legend Jonathan Torrens. In this brilliant and highly entertaining theatrical masterpiece, Torrens plays Chris Bean, the director of the Cornley Drama Society. As the group of accident-prone amateur thespians fumble through their attempt to stage a classic 1920’s murder mystery, everything that can go wrong does. With missed cues, absurd mishaps and questionable talent, there’s comical chaos at every turn.

The longest running comedy on London’s West End and hailed as Broadway’s, “funniest smash hit,” The Play That Goes Wrong is a hilarious hybrid of Monty Python and Sherlock Holmes.

This classic, comedic farce is on stage at Neptune Theatre from September 27 – October 22. Tickets on sale now! 

On The Coast

SPONSORED BY DOWNTOWN HALIFAX

100 Things to do Downtown This Summer

If you’re looking to experience some exciting activities this summer but aren’t sure where to start, check out ‘100 Things to Do Downtown This Summer’.

Featuring everything from ‘Unforgettable Experiences’ to ‘Food & Drink Adventures’, you’ll be able to maximize your summer fun and maybe even try something new.

How many can you check off your list? Start planning today!

In other news

🚑 Health officials say Nova Scotia’s ambulance response system is improving, but patient transfer times are still more than double the province’s goal, CBC News reports.

🚨 Police are investigating a Tuesday afternoon robbery at the TD Bank branch on Spring Garden Road.

🏠 Nova Scotia’s offer of 25 modular home rentals for those displaced from May’s wildfires is getting a lacklustre response—but the province’s housing minister says he isn’t surprised, CTV News reports.

💰 Dartmouth construction tech company CarbonCure just closed on a $105.7M investing round—the largest of its kind in Nova Scotia. The company sells technology to inject and sequester carbon dioxide in concrete.

GAMES ON

Delayed by COVID, the massive North American Indigenous Games are finally here

When NAIG 2023 kicks off this weekend, it will not only mark the start of one of the largest sporting events ever hosted in Mi’kma’ki—the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq people that forms present-day Nova Scotia—but also the culmination of a dream deferred.

The week-long tournament and festival had initially been scheduled for 2020, until the COVID pandemic prompted its postponement. Ask NAIG 2023 board chair Fiona Kirkpatrick Parsons, though, and she’ll tell you it’s been a project decades in the making. “It is the single largest, most important cultural gathering in Atlantic Canada’s history since contact,” she says. “It’s certainly a great honour. I have to give a huge shout-out to [NAIG 2023 president] Tex Marshall… he envisioned bringing these Games over 25 years ago.”

More than 5,000 athletes from over 756 Indigenous nations will be taking part in the Games, competing in 16 sports ranging from lacrosse, to basketball, to rifle shooting. There will be sports and cultural activities at venues across Halifax, Dartmouth, Millbrook First Nation and Sipekne’katik (Shubenacadie). All of the competitions are free to attend. Most will also be livestreamed on the NAIG 2023 website.

And at The Coast’s site you can read more about Halifax’s biggest festival of the summer.

🗓 Things to do

Ready to think about your weekend plans? Check out these Coast picks:

Thursday

• The End of This World book launch: To mark the launch of The End of This World: Climate Justice in So-Called Canada, co-author Emily Eaton is having a conversation with community leaders Robin Tress and Michelle Paul at Glitter Bean Cafe | July 13 | 6:30pm | free.

• Tanika Charles: The Last Waltz Halifax isn’t the only enticing show happening at Jazz Fest tonight (see above). Powerful soul singer Tanika Charles is in town from Toronto for an evening at St. Matthew’s United Church that’s billed as “high energy and endearing” | July 13 | 7pm-11pm | $33.49.

• Espresso Martini Pop-up: The skilled boozesmiths behind Barkeep Cocktails are popping up at Sidekick Cafe with a coffee cocktail, live music, treats and free t-shirts to the first 10 people through the door | July 13 | 5:30pm-9pm | free.

Friday

• Carey Lee: The east coast’s “funniest and most prolific musical comedian,” Carey Lee brings his guitar and his impressions to start a two-night stand at Yuk Yuk’s Halifax. Kyle Barnet is also on the bill | July 14 | 8pm | $22.50.

• Umberto Eco: A Library of the World: Carbon Arc Cinema screens this documentary about Italian author Umberto Eco's private library of more than 30,000 books. The film is in Italian with English subtitles, and runs two nights | June 14 | 7pm and 9pm | $8.75.

• North by Night Market: This popular night market in Halifax's north end is running once a month through the summer. July's edition happens on the back patio at The Local Restaurant and Bar, featuring local artisans, vintage shopping, food and tunes | July 14 | 7pm-10pm | free.

Saturday

• Digable Planets & Maestro Fresh Wes: Jazz Fest kicks it old school with a double bill of hip hop legends. Technically NYC trio Digable Planets is the headliner at this waterfront main stage show, but Maestro Fresh Wes—the undisputed godfather of Canadian hip hop—has gotta be a tough act to follow | July 15 | 8:15pm-11pm | $38.82.

• Carey Lee: See Friday for info | July 15 | 8pm | $22.50.

• Umberto Eco: A Library of the World: See Friday for info | June 15 | 7pm | $8.75.

Sunday

• Fleet Foxes: The Halifax Jazz Festival ends with a bang, hosting Grammy-nominated Seattle indie folk band Fleet Foxes on the main stage. Newfoundland folk duo Fortunate Ones opens | July 16 | 8:15pm | $81.92 and up.

Find more Halifax events in The Coast listings.