It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and no one does it better than Halifax’s performing arts community.
Here are the shows we’re looking forward to this holiday season. And be sure to check out our full calendar of events for other happenings in and around the Halifax area.
Did we miss a show? Let us know, and we will add it to our growing list here.
Theatre
Neptune Theatre presents the return of the holiday musical panto Cinderella (Nov 21-Jan 7), featuring pop songs, laughs and plenty of surprises as it tells the classic story of a young woman who longs for a better life away from her menacing stepsisters.
Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (Nov 30-Dec 30) celebrates 20 years as it returns to Neptune Theatre’s Scotiabank Stage for the dramatic telling of Charles Dickens’s holiday classic about redemption and the true meaning of Christmas.
Community theatre group Theatre Arts Guild presents Santa Claus – the Panto (Nov 23-Dec 9), its annual holiday family-friendly pantomime musical.
The Villians Theatre presents an irreverent retelling of the Dickens holiday classic with The Villains’ Christmas Carol: The Revenge of Tiny Tim (Dec 7 & 8), in which Tiny Tim sells his soul to the devil to get revenge on Scrooge.
Music
Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies (Nov 18) brings its Jingle All The Way tour to Halifax’s Rebecca Cohn Auditorium.
The Newfoundland musical family group The Ennis Sisters (Nov 22) performs at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in their Christmas show.
Award-winning jazz singer Holly Cole (Dec 1 & 2) performs with Symphony Nova Scotia with holiday classics.
Halifax-based Juno award-winning singer-songwriter, musician, and visual artist Meaghan Smith performs The Holiday Show (Dec 1-3).
The Sanctuary Arts Centre in Dartmouth presents Miracle on Ochterloney Street (Dec 1, 2, 8, 21 & 22), featuring live music, family-friendly comedy, and a story that will warm your heart.
Kyle Gillis, Becca Guilderson, and friends present Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton’s iconic, platinum-selling album, Once Upon A Christmas at The Carleton in Kenny & Dolly’s A Christmas to Remember (Dec 4 & 5).
Cast members of Come From Away – Newfoundland’s The Rowdymen – bring their Christmas show to The Carleton in Christmas with The Rowdymen (Dec 6 & 7).
Symphony Nova Scotia performs The Nutcracker (Dec 8-17) with larger-than-life puppets, spirited dancing, and Tchaikovsky’s iconic, hauntingly beautiful music.
The Aeolian Singers present Ceremony of Carols (Dec 9), a seasonal event that pairs wintery favourites with Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece for choir and harp.
The Sanctuary Arts Centre in Dartmouth presents The Songs of Kenny & Dolly’s Once Upon a Christmas (Dec 12), featuring the timeless songs of Kenny & Dolly and their classic Christmas album.
Afro-German-Caribbean disco and funk vocal group Boney M. featuring Liz Mitchell (Dec 12) returns to Halifax with Holiday Favourites & Classic Hits (Dec 12).
The Sanctuary Arts Centre in Dartmouth presents Storybook Theatre’s Christmas variety show, A Christmas Spectacular (Dec 14-17).
Cape Breton folk music group Coig returns to The Carleton with their 2023 Holiday Tour (Dec 15).
East Coast singer-songwriter and multi-award-winning entertainer Lennie Gallant presents his 2023 edition of The Innkeeper’s Christmas (Dec 16).
Multi-award-winning Newfoundland folk group The Irish Descendants (Dec 16) gets into the Christmas spirit with two shows in Halifax.
The Broadway Bunch (Dec 16Â & 17) is back for brunch at The Carleton to ring in the holiday season.
The Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra gets into the Holiday Spirit (Dec 17) with classic festive favourites and excerpts from Handel’s Royal Fireworks.
Dave Gunning & J.P. Cormier (Dec 17-21) are back at The Carleton for their annual holiday show featuring classics along with some of their original material.
Capella Regalis Men & Boys Choir presents the 14th season of its Christmas concert series, A Chorister’s Christmas (Dec 17).
The Barra MacNeils return to Halifax for An East Coast Christmas (Dec 18 & 19) in a musical potpourri of traditional MacNeil family favourites gleaned from Christmas ceilidhs, midnight masses and the general festive frolic that accompanies each holiday season.
Elvis impersonator Pete Paquette rings in the New Year with The Elvis Concert (Dec 31), celebrating the legacy of music’s most iconic figure, the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.