Arts, Culture and Entertainment

Music

Whether you like to listen to music or make your own, the Annapolis Valley has plenty to choose from.

You'll enjoy live music at many restaurants and pubs, such as Union Street Café in Berwick and the Kings Arms Pub in Kentville. For a quick look at our dynamic music scene, check out Valley Events and click “music.” For world-class performers, sign up for the exciting Acadia Performing Arts Series.

If making music is more your thing, we have that covered too!

Annapolis Valley Honour Choir delivers a complete choral education that nurtures healthy, developing voices and musical excellence. There are currently 160 auditioned choristers from Grades 3 to 12 in three choirs from across the Annapolis Valley.

Valley Voices is an a capella barbershop choir for female singers.

Local choirs and bands in the Annapolis Royal area include A Royal Consort Community Chamber Choir, Annapolis Basin Community Band, and Annapolis Basin Community Chorus.

Acadia Regional Youth Orchestra is a low-cost, beginner to intermediate strings program for young people aged 10–24. The orchestra includes adults in its Fiddle Group.

Music lessons for children and adults are also available from multiple instructors throughout the Annapolis Valley.

Theatre

Live theatre in the Annapolis Valley can entertain you year round. Even the pandemic doesn't stop us! When CentreStage Theatre in Kentville had to shut its doors to live audiences, its volunteer cast and crew put on radio plays you can listen to from the comfort of home.

Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, based in Windsor, creates stage adaptations of iconic children's literature through the art of puppetry. Established in 1972, Mermaid tours its productions internationally.

King's Theatre, Annapolis Royal, includes live theatre in its entertainment offerings.

Broken Leg Theatre in Wolfville puts on quarterly variety shows.

For first-class live outdoor theatre, you'll want to visit Two Planks and a Passion at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts near Canning.

And the Annapolis Valley offers other live performances here and there including ghost walks. Check Valley Events (click “Theatre”) to find one near you.

Cinema

Want to catch a movie? These cinemas are bound to have something for you:

• Al Whittle Theatre, Wolfville, brings high-quality independent, Canadian and foreign films to the Annapolis Valley via the Fundy Film Society.

• Cineplex Cinemas New Minas shows a selection of popular new movies in its six cinemas under one roof.
• King's Theatre, Annapolis Royal, has served as a movie house for 100 years, with programming that ranges from Indie to Hollywood and work by local filmmakers.
• Valley Drive-in, Coldbrook, is open on weekends from mid-May through the end of September and shows double features.
• Zedex Theatre, Greenwood, is a single-screen theatre that shows popular new movies. It is on the CFB Greenwood base but is open to the general public.

Art

Many artists, professional and amateur, make their home in the Annapolis Valley. We have numerous thriving artists' groups and lessons.

If you like to discover outdoor art, the Valley Art Map is a great way to explore and learn more about the Annapolis Valley, especially in Kings County.

Galleries abound:

• The Acadia Art Gallery in Wolfville hosts a permanent collection and visiting artists.
• ArtCan Gallery and Café in Canning shows the art of owner Ron Hayes as well as that of other local artists. ArtCan offers painting courses and workshops, sells art supplies, and rents studio space to artists.
• ARTSPLACE in Annapolis Royal is a contemporary gallery and arts centre that has three galleries, residency and pop-up studio/gallery and space for workshops and performances. ARTSPLACE runs a year-round schedule of workshops, classes, readings, screenings, talks and special events.
• Eileen Boyd Art and Gardens in Berwick features the visual artwork of Eileen Boyd. She also invites you to visit her gardens, which have all-season interest.
• Harvest Gallery in Wolfville presents art and fine craft from many of the region's popular artists and artisans.
• Moyers' Fine Arts Atelier in Kentville shows oil paintings by Lynda and Francis Moyer. They also offer art lessons.
• Spiral Pottery Studio and Gallery in Hall's Harbour, is owned and operated by Terry-Lee Bourgeois-King, a professional artist and educator. She offers pottery classes and workshops.
• Tides Contemporary Art Gallery in Kentville is an artist-run cooperative of established and emerging Valley artists.

Festivals

You can attend festivals in all four seasons!

Every fall, besides countless harvest festivals and fall exhibitions throughout the Annapolis Valley, you'll want to see the Kentville pumpkin people and take in Devour! The Food Film Fest in Wolfville.

In winter, Eagle Watch draws visitors from across Atlantic Canada to see bald eagles up close in their natural habitat.

A spring highlight is the Apple Blossom Festival. The Annapolis Valley is the centre of apple production on Canada's eastern seaboard. In fact, some local farmers grow more than 35 varieties.

In summer, many communities host Canada Day celebrations and other community festivals.

History

If you like to immerse yourself in history, the Annapolis Valley offers exciting insights into the past.

Explore the Landscape of Grand Pré UNESCO World Heritage Site, which celebrates the history of the Mi'kmaq, Acadians, and New England Planters in a living agricultural landscape.

Be sure to visit the Annapolis Valley's five National Historic Sites:

• Fort Edward National Historic Site, Windsor: Built in 1750, Fort Edward is North America's oldest military blockhouse. 

• Grand-Pré National Historic Site, Grand Pré: This site was once the centre of Acadian culture worldwide and is the most significant memorial to their tragic deportation in the 1700s.
• Fort Anne National Historic Site, Annapolis Royal: Visitors can walk the earthen walls, explore the 1797 Officers' Quarters Museum and soak up thousands of years of Canadian history.
• Port-Royal National Historic Site, Port Royal: Costumed interpreters guide you through a reconstruction of the Habitation, an enclosed wooden compound built by Samuel de Champlain in 1605.
• Melanson Settlement National Historic Site, Granville Ferry: This quiet farmland on the banks of the Annapolis River reveals a system of Dykeland farming that was unique among the Acadian settlers who lived here in the 1600s and 1700s.

Libraries

For those quiet, laid-back times when you want to sit by the water (or the fire) and read a book, the Annapolis Valley Regional Library has 11 branches that offer not only books and e-books but computer use, innovation labs with one-on-one tech help, and family programs.