Antigonish Culture Alive

09/04/2026

Antigonight 2026 is taking place on September 19th from 7-9pm!

Come out to the Antigonish Public Library and surrounding areas to see and participate in 19 Nova Scotian art installations inspired by this year’s theme, Turning Tides. As always, this festival is accessible, family-friendly, and free of charge to attend.

Stay tuned for a complete list of artists!

We can’t wait to see you there!

Questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out to [email protected]. We are happy to help!

09/03/2026

The Town of Antigonish, supported by Antigonish Culture Alive (ACA), is seeking submissions for their 2026 Public Art Commission. This is a province-wide competition, with preference given to Antigonish Town and/or County residents, for professional (as defined by Canada Arts Council Guidelines) and emerging artists (an artist developing their portfolio and gaining experience, self-taught or formally educated).

The 2026 Public Art Commission celebrates the 50th anniversary of Antigonish Creative Dance Association (ACDA). ACDA provides a comprehensive program in which dancers of all ages, but in particular young people, can find their physical voice. ACDA is proud to note that many of the dancers in their programs today are children of former ACDA dancers, a trend that speaks to the legacy of their involvement in the community. Dance not only teaches discipline, concentration, flexibility, and technique; the intellectual, physical and social skills taught through dance are basic and fundamental to a child's success and function in other areas of development. Most importantly, child-centered dance promotes expression, joyousness, appreciation of beauty and a sense of belonging in the wider community.

To find out more and/or apply, email [email protected], or visit: https://www.antigonishculturealive.ca/?page_id=1433

08/31/2026

08/27/2026

Join the Board of Antigonish Culture Alive: We are Seeking a Treasurer!

Antigonish Culture Alive (ACA), the community arts council for Antigonish town and county, is seeking a passionate, community-minded volunteer to join our Board of Directors as Treasurer for an immediate start.
If you are interested in supporting local arts, connecting with other creative minds, and helping shape artistic opportunities in our community—including our signature annual event, Antigonight—this is a wonderful opportunity to make a direct impact.

If you want to contribute to a thriving local artistic culture, we would love to hear from you! Please reach out to Melissa Kuipers, Arts Coordinator, at [email protected] to learn more or express your interest.

08/27/2026

The call for film students/artists projects is open!

The Antigonish Film Festival is looking for short films created by filmmakers with a connection to the Antigonish community. Do you live here? come from the area? attend school here? or have another meaningful connection to Antigonish? We want to see your work!

Films can be 1–15 minutes long, although we recommend a runtime of approximately 5–10 minutes so we can showcase as many local filmmakers as possible.

Free to submit - Open to all types and genres - MP4 and 1080p are recommended

Submission deadline: September 1, 2026
Updated film files accepted until September 10, 2026

Selected films will be presented during our curated 90-minute Short Film Program at the Antigonish Film Festival on September 25–26, 2026.

Submission deadline: September 1st

For more info or to submit your peice
https://antigonishfilmconnection.ca/

08/25/2026

We're excited to be offering free face painting at Music on Main on Wednesday, August 26th at Columbus Field! Face painting will be available from 6-8pm (the concert continues until 9pm). Come out to hear rocking performances by No Service in Eden and Elyse Aeryn, and get your face painted!

Thank you to Antigonish Tourism Association Explore Antigonish for hosting this free community event!

Antigonish Culture Alive will also be selling our beautiful fundraiser tote bags design by local artists.

08/24/2026

We are so excited about the 17th annual Antigonight Arts After Dark Festival! Our inclusive, all-ages-participatory arts festival will take place at and around the Antigonish Public Library on Saturday, September 19th from 7pm-9pm and will be packed with amazing creations from 20 local artists!

We are also thrilled to announce that this year we are teaming up with Antigonish Film Connection to offer a brand new Antigonish Film Festival! The Short Film Showcase will feature short films by local film makers and will take place on Friday, September 25th from 6-9pm at Immaculata Hall. Saturday, September 26th from 6-9pm will be the Atlantic Film spotlight in Schwartz Auditorium.

All of these events are completely FREE to the public! Antigonish Culture Alive is registered charity dedicated to providing free public art. It is because of the generosity of our community, in giving financially and giving their time and talents, that we can offer top-tier programming year after year.

To help us continue to build our community through arts, please email [email protected], or give through Canada Helps: https://www.antigonishculturealive.ca/?page_id=759.

08/22/2026

Our summer staff were at the last Art Fair of the summer this evening, selling beautiful crochet turtles and tote bags featuring art by local artists! These items help us raise funds for the 17th annual Antigonight Art After Dark Festival taking place on Saturday, September 19th, from 7pm-9pm. You can meet our staff, purchase a tote or turtle, or donate to Antigonight tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 22) at the Antigonish Farmers Market, or catch us at Music on Main on Wednesday evening in Columbus Park.

We are a registered charity and can issue tax receipts on donations over $20!

If you can't come out to either of those events, please feel free to email to order a tote bag or donate: [email protected].

08/19/2026

It’s with heavy hearts that we share the following:
Antigonight’s funding has been severely impacted by the heavy handed cuts to arts programming by both the provincial government and federal government. Our funding and grants ensure our ability to pay our local artists and cultural workers and it allowed us to put on two nights of totally free, accessible community arts programming. This year, our funding has been cut in half from previous years, and effectively the festival budget is gutted. This impacts every single decision we make at an organizational, curatorial and marketing level, nickel and diming our programming staff and shrinking the festival scale immensely.

Part of our core mission at Antigonight is to bring artists and their projects to our community by providing a presentation structure that alleviates guests of traditional arts barriers such as rural location and payment. Cutting investments in the arts is not so-called budget austerity: it’s strategically gutting programs that connect our communities, expand relationships and challenge power. Antigonight 2026 will go on. This year’s theme ‘Turning Tides’ couldn’t be timelier. Part of the submission call for this year’s festival asked artists to ‘radically imagine what it would look like if our tides turned for the better’. We stand by that statement of hope.

To get involved, to donate, to connect - follow the link in bio.