As the finale to our weekend of concerts we checked out Wintersleep on the Granville Green in Port Hawkesbury Cape Breton (you can read all about the Granville Green in our past post) . We are HUGE Wintersleep fans and felt it would be a perfect way to cap off a weekend of music, beaches and road tripping
There are five things that happen when you go to Matt Mays concert in
the NS.
1. Matt Mays comes out with a hat on, takes it off and then puts
it back at some point near the end of the show.
2. He always climbs something.
3. You become BFFs with everyone around you.
4. You must know the words to ALL of his songs and if you don't your new best friends will disown you.
5. You realize that he is probably the best live performer you
will ever see... unless you’re lucky enough to see, let's say Neil Young and then he’s
probably a very close second.
This is the photo story of what happened at the Jubilee in New Glasgow Saturday night.
I’m approximately 5’7”and I came to their shoulders. They
were soo much taller than I expected and they also surpassed all my other
expectations in every way.
The secret is out. We have wine. Delicious award winning wine. Surprised? Don't be. With our mild climate and nutrient rich soil, growing conditions are perfect for grapes. Which is why we've been making wine since 1611 and I dare say we've gotten pretty damn good at it. Practice makes perfect after all.
With over 2 dozen wineries each offering their own distinct brand, things can seem overwhelming. Don't worry about wine snobs, we're friendly and like to share. Which is why every year, you can find various tours, tastings and festivals throughout the province.
Starting February 2 -12 The Ice Wine Festival (award winning icewine!) will be taking place in varies locations throughout the province. For full schedule see here. This year over 40 events will be held, varying from the traditional wine and cheese pairing to winery tours by snowshoe. Kids? No problem, how does a toboggan rides down a 1000 foot hill with a horse-pulled sleigh to meet you at the bottom and bring to the top again, sound? On a budget? Take in one of the amazing prix-fix menu being offered during the festival.
Winter. That's right, I said the "w" word. When you think winter in Nova Scotia, what comes to mind? Snow, dark cold nights, blinding storms? What about music? Did you know that every year during the last weekend of January, a music festival is held?
In the Dead of Winter was founded by Heather Gibson, Jill Barber, Rose Cousins, Jenn Grant and Amelia Curran. Over the years, the organizers have changed but the goal remains the same. Bringing together various acoustic artists to help showcase their genre and give them the chance to perform to a wider then normal audience in a professional setting.
This year's festival is going to be taking place from January 25 - 28 at various venues throughout Halifax. While the festival does welcome all ages, please note that some venues are 19+. For additional venue and ticket information please see
While I would love to take in all the shows, this year I'm limiting myself to artists who's work I'm unfamiliar. Some shows I hope to check out are: Breagh MacKinnon
Mark it down on your calendars, in your iphones and your blackberries... Halifax Pop Explosion (HPX) has created a new off shoot festival they named Halifax M Fest and it’s happening on Sunday August 7th at Alderney Landing on the Dartmouth Waterfront. Yes, the Library parking lot! So far it’s only a one day event with doors opening at 1PM. It’s described as all ages with a licensed area... sooo a BEER TENT (I’m assuming).
Oh I forgot the best part... Headliners: Broken Social Scene!
Yay! If you’ve never seen them (thought they’ve been to Halifax a few times) you need to catch their show. They are amazing live. Youtube has plenty of vids from live shows so you can check 'em out. Their live performance list includes appearances on Letterman, Jimmy Fallon and CBC’s Q.
It’s Icewine Festival time again in Nova Scotia, happening from Feb 3rd-13th, 2011. It hasn’t been a long-standing festival in Nova Scotia (4 years), since icewine is relatively new to the province (compared to our beers) but is increasing in popularity. I’m not going to try to pull your leg and come off as if I’m some sort of expert on icewines because I’m not. In fact, I don’t really know that much about wines at all except that I like to drink them. Well, some more than others and others more than I should.
The wine industry is growing here in Nova Scotia, and each year our wines win more and more gold medals at the, uhh, the... Wine Olympics. Okay, so I don’t really know where these gold medals are coming from, but they are advertised as gold medal winners on their bottles and they’re all listed on the Wines of Nova Scotia website. In fact, the industry has grown so much that we actually HAVE a wine association such as Wines of Nova Scotia that has developed a set standard of quality wines must meet to be part of the association and, in my opinion, is working tirelessly at promoting wines in this province. I will say that the standards have greatly improved the quality of our wine. (I would tell you the tale of the first time I tasted a Nova Scotia wine but I’ll save that for a later post.)
Now back to the icewine! Icewine is labeled as a dessert wine, meaning it’s sweeter in taste than “regular” wines. It is made from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine, which allows the water to freeze inside the grape and sugar to be more concentrated - hence the sweetness. The rest of the process I’m not too sure about but I do intend to find out this year at the Nova Scotia Icewine Festival. Here’s a brief clip on last years festival.
Have you tried the icewines here in Nova Scotia? Which ones would you suggest are a must and which ones are a bust? Let us know by leaving a comment or send us an email.
