St. Patrick’s Day cheer alive, but waning in Halifax

Good morning !

If daylight savings wasn’t enough to get you excited for warmer weather, here’s another indication that spring is just a few days away: The Emera Oval is closing for the season this Sunday, Mar. 19. That’s just enough time to get one or two more skates in! Did you get to enjoy the Oval this winter? Let us know by answering the poll below.

COAST READERS RESPOND

St. Patrick’s Day cheer alive, but waning in Halifax

How green will Halifax be under a blanket of St. Patrick’s Day snow? Perhaps not very green at all, if The Coast’s latest poll results prove true. This week, we asked you to share your St. Paddy’s traditions. The results? Turns out most of you would be happy to skip the holiday entirely. Nearly 7 in 10 Coast readers who voted on our website say they plan to avoid the clover-leafed celebrations completely, while about one in nine Twitter followers who voted say their celebrations might include a green beer—but that’s it.

Those who wrote in offered a mix of responses. On Twitter, Coast reader Kate writes that usually they “just put a few shamrock decorations up at work,” whereas Coast reader Jenna writes that as a “redhead in a university town… St. Patrick’s Day was never a fun time.”

For Dalhousie University, St. Patrick’s Day is known as one of its “trouble periods” for students having street parties, and a year ago ShamHoCo—a shamrock-tinged version of the notorious fall Homecoming—brought crowds to the residential neighbourhood around Dal’s Studley campus. And still the parties keep happening.

What will Dal’s ShamHoCo street parties look like this year? 

Need to know

☀️ Today's weather: Cloudy with a 30% chance of flurries in the morning and afternoon. A high of 5C and a low of -3C.

🚢 In case you missed Coast reporter Martin Bauman’s update on what’s in the harbour this week, the 151,1446-tonne, 365 metres long, CMA CGM Amerigo Vespucci container ship is expected to dock at the South End Container Terminal at 8am on Saturday. One of the biggest ships the harbour has seen in weeks.

🐢 Gain a new appreciation of our anatomy, health, and what it means to be human at Body Worlds Vital at Museum of Natural History until Apr. 30.*

🦠 New COVID numbers for Nova Scotia are out and up from last week. Check out the updated stats here.

📺 In need of a new TV show to watch? The Halifax shot series Sullivan's Crossing airs this weekend, Mar. 19, at 7pm on CTV.

*Sponsored Post

AWARDS SZN

Theatre Nova Scotia announces nominees for 2023 Merritt Awards

Awards season rolls on with the announcement of the 2023 Merritt Awards nominees, the top honour for live theatre in Nova Scotia. The celebration itself will be held March 27 at Alderney Landing Theatre, and here's a rundown of who's in the running to win in two of the major categories:

• Outstanding performance in a leading role

• Outstanding performance in a supporting role

SPONSORED

‘March’ to downtown Halifax!

We may be half-way through March, but there are still so many things to do this month in downtown Halifax!

Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day festivities all weekend at pubs and bars around downtown. Soak up the last days of March-break fun at any one of the world-class attractions including the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, the Discovery Centre, and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

And don’t forget about Halifax Burger Bash! Over 50 restaurants from downtown Halifax alone are participating this year.

And finally, The Curio Collective’s Spring Vintage Show is taking place Mar. 25-26 at the Light House Arts Centre.

Keep up to date with everything happening downtown at DowntownHalifax.ca.

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE

The spicy burgers of Burger Bash

Some like it hot…and some like it really hot! This year we’ve got a nice range of burgers with spicy sauces, seasonings and toppings. Jalapenos, chillies, spicy aioli—there are all sorts of ways to bring the heat.

Whether you like a little tingle on your tongue or you like the feeling of being shot in the mouth with flavour, we’ve got your burger.

Things to do

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

✏️ Sketch N’ Stroll: Join artists at Argyle Fine Art this weekend and get your portrait sketched on the store window | Mar. 18 | 1pm-3pm | Free.

🍀 MouseTrap Music: Good Robot Brewing is hosting a Shamjam in honour of St. Paddy’s Day this weekend | Mar. 18 | 9pm | $15-$20.

⛸ Community Skate: Benjamin Bridge Winery has opened its rink up to the community for some family-friendly skate sessions from Tues-Sun | until Mar. 31 | 10am -8pm | $5.

Find more Halifax events in The Coast listings

SPONSORED

Levelling up the experience at The Pint Public House Halifax

The Pint Public House Halifax is known as a staple for its eats, games, live performances, and killer rooftop patio. Good times are always guaranteed at the favourite neighbourhood pub, and they’re only going to get better under new ownership.

Read more to find out what’s happening at The Pint Public House Halifax.

In other news

⛸ Nova Scotia is funding the upgrades of 14 community rinks and investing $8.2 million into women and girls hockey at the Canada Games Complex in Cape Breton.

🔋 Dartmouth company Zen Electric has developed batteries for electric bikes and mopeds that last four times longer than others on the market thanks to technology developed at Dalhousie. With a new $1.25 million investment from North South Power Company, Zen is hoping to expand its business.

🩺 A new health care clinic is opening up in Bayers Lake and a petition is circling to have the facility also run as a 24/7 urgent care clinic. Global has the story.

⚖️ Thanks to $607,000 in funding from the feds, the African Nova Scotia Justice Institute is working towards providing Black Nova Scotians access to a free legal team.

Hodgepodge

🥞 Nova Scotia’s first Denny’s–a popular North American chain–is well on its way. The restaurant will be located underneath Dartmouth’s Sandman Signature Hotel. Halifax ReTales shared pictures of the hotel boasting the new Denny’s sign.

🖌 NSCAD’s Art Supply store is having an inventory cleanout starting Monday. From Mar. 20-31 all sale items will be between $0.25 and $5. Get more info here.

👑 According to a new poll by Research Co., less than 20% of Canadians want Canada to remain a part of the monarchy. Read the breakdown of the poll results by province here.

🎵 Who says vinyl is dead? Vinyl sales are continuing to grow across Atlantic Canada and the rest of North America.

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