Free Harbour Festival Entertainment Offers Something for Everyone
From flamenco to fiddle, bagpipes to blues, the Halifax Harbour Festival offers daytime entertainment for just about every musical taste and age range, all free of charge.
The Halifax Harbour Festival runs Sept. 17 and 18 and offers activities at four waterfront venues in Bedford, Dartmouth, Eastern Passage and Halifax, that will encourage Nova Scotians to discover their harbour.
On Saturday, Sept. 17, entertainment at the festival family picnic in Bedford's DeWolfe Park kicks off at 10 a.m. with an appearance by the pipes and drums of the 78th Highlanders, part of the Halifax Citadel Roadshow.
The roadshow will perform at all venues over the two days of the festival, bringing the pageantry of the pipes and drums to the waterfront.
The entertainment continues on the Bedford waterfront all day with science demonstrations for kids, children's entertainers, highland dancing, Cape Breton fiddle tunes, flamenco music and dancers, face painting, juggling and other circus tricks to entertain festival-goers.
The Dartmouth Harbourwalk will be immersed in the blues with free afternoon performances at Alderney Landing. The Dutch Mason Blues Festival launch features Acadian Driftwood, a zydeco-cajun-folk-blues band on Saturday, Sept. 17, and a jazz and blues show on Sunday, Sept. 18 featuring Eileen Joyce, Pam Marsh, Cheryl Edgett and Shirley Jackson.
At Fisherman's Cove in Eastern Passage, free entertainment includes music performances by the Humphrey Girls, Howie and Laura Lee Jennex, Wild Bill Jones Trio, John Drakes, Canadian Primos and Tim Henneberry. Programming in the theatre tent includes book readings, learn-to-draw-wildlife workshops, storytelling for children, and engaging educational theatre for all ages.
Along the Halifax Harbourwalk, the Bishop's Landing Concert Series offers free outdoor entertainment at the Piazza, the outdoor courtyard at Bishop's Landing. At the Harbourside Market in Historic Properties, Anthony Rissesco will perform Celtic tunes.
On Sunday only, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia are opening their doors at the Immigration Annex Building as part of the Halifax Port Authority open house. Entertainment includes storytelling for children, choral singing, face painting, and chalk drawing on the sidewalk outside.
For full details on all events and activities taking place during the Halifax Harbour Festival, or to register as a volunteer, visit the festival's website at www.HalifaxHarbourFestival.ca .
The Halifax Harbour Festival is presented by Waterfront Development Corporation Limited, a provincial Crown corporation that plans, co-ordinates, promotes and develops properties, events and activities on designated waterfronts around Halifax Harbour.