Mat Hughes' Halifax: his favourite breakfast sandwich, beach day and songwriter

Hey Halifax!

This week, Mat Hughes shares his favourite people and places in Halifax ahead of Saturday's album release show. Plus the Toller Canadian Tuxedo Party and LOUD WOMEN Fest on Saturday, Aquakultre and Thandiwe McCarthy at the AfterWords Literary Festival, Laura Roy heading out on tour with Bonobo, Sam Wilson's new album, the last day to win Frenchy's tickets, and all of the best shows and events this week.

Let's dig in!

Mat Hughes' Halifax, before his album release show on Saturday

Halifax singer-songwriter Mat Hughes put out his debut album, I Hate This, But I'm Having Fun, on October 16 and it's truly awesome. He celebrates it with his full band and special guest Sadie Skinner at St. Matthew's Church on Saturday, October 24. Doors are at 7 p.m.

Mat is a piano virtuoso with a knack for super catchy piano riffs and really fun songwriting. We got to see him blow Ria Mae's mind at HUFF a couple weeks ago when she saw him for the first time during their song circle, and have a feeling we'll be seeing more of those reactions as more people experience his live show.

For his Halifavourites, Mat picked ten people and places he loves. Here are four of them, in his words:

The Osney. "The Osney has my favourite breakfast sandwich in HRM. I've tried 'em all. I've done the research. This one is the best."

Lower Sackville Frenchy's. "You don't always have time for a full Tour de France down in the valley. Sometimes you only have time for a quick rip to Sackville. And that's okay - because this Frenchy's is top notch. I've found 3 of my favourite pairs of pants there. You've gotta check it out. Unless you wear the same size pants as me, in which case stay the heck away from there and go to the Mission Mart across the road."

Sadie Skinner. "Every time I go to a Sadie Skinner show she sings something that makes me go, 'dang, I wish I thought of that'. She is one of my all-time favourite songwriters. I think I listened to Electric Blue maybe 500 times this year."

Cheeky Neighbour. "I've never ordered anything except chicken and waffles. It was so good the first time that I just never thought to branch out. Well worth lining up on the weekend for. Quinpool is the new Agricola - everyone's saying it."

Get tickets to Saturday's show · Listen to the album

LOUD WOMEN Fest takes over the Seahorse on Saturday

LOUD WOMEN Fest is back at the Seahorse Tavern for its second year on Saturday, October 24, from 5 to 11:30 p.m. Last year's first edition sold out. Ten acts of women and non-binary artists from Nova Scotia, across Canada and the UK play punk, indie, rock, hip hop and folk: Alanna Matty, Altered by Mom (Toronto), Amygdala Hijack, Burry, Freya Milliken, Penny & The Pits, SALTLAMP, Shoulder Season, Warlet and We, Cassie (UK).

Aquakultre and Thandiwe McCarthy talk Black family histories at AfterWords

Aquakultre is Lance Sampson, a Black Nova Scotian singer, rapper and composer with three Polaris-nominated albums. He traces his roots back to 1783, which is also the title of his latest album, and his TV series GeneratioNS offers "the opportunity to tell our stories our way, and preserve our memories as a tool for people to learn." He's currently Artist-in-Residence at the Black Cultural Centre in Cherry Brook.

At the AfterWords Literary Festival, he's in conversation with Thandiwe McCarthy, a seventh-generation Black Canadian spoken word poet whose new book from Goose Lane, Still Here, celebrates fifteen generational Black New Brunswick families. They'll talk about gathering Black family histories in the Maritimes.

Still Here/GeneratioNS is free at the Black Cultural Centre on Tuesday, November 3, at 7 p.m. Reserve a free ticket on the festival site. They also appear at The Carleton on Wednesday, November 4, at 1 p.m.

The rest of the AfterWords Literary Festival runs November 1 to 8.

Laura Roy is going on tour with Bonobo

Nova Scotia songwriter Laura Roy will be the featured vocalist on Bonobo's Distance In Static tour. "Very excited to finally share that I'll be joining the incredible @si_bonobo on tour as the featured/lead vocalist for the Distance In Static tour!!!" she posted. The North American run is November 5 to December 5, including Toronto on November 26 and Montreal on November 27. Her debut album, Late Bloomer Season, is out now. See her post.

Quick Hits

Anthropic is the tenant for EverWind's $10 billion data centre in Point Tupper. In case you somehow missed it. Read more.

A Dartmouth company turns used coffee grounds into a cocoa replacement. Quinn Cavanagh, 27, from Hammonds Plains, makes Kaffika at RFINE from spent grounds, and says it sells for about 40 per cent less than cocoa. Read more.

New Glasgow's town crier won best hometown cry at the world championship. James Stewart, the town's crier since 1992, took first place in the category at the World Town Crier Tournament in Chester, England. Read more.

Halifax's Kyle Moore is the 2026 Champion of Workplace Mental Health. The host of the Life's a Wreck podcast built free mental health programming for founders under 30 at League of Innovators. Read more.

Raiza Daniel is out of MasterChef Canada. The Halifax home cook, the last one from the Maritimes, was sent home on Tuesday after cutting her hand during a pressure test. Read more.

Sports this weekend

Mooseheads vs Cape Breton Eagles, Friday, October 23. The Mooseheads have 14 points through 10 games (5-1-3-1), and eight of those have gone to overtime or a shootout. They host Cape Breton on First Responders Night at Scotiabank Centre, then Charlottetown for 90's Night on Saturday. Both games are at 7 p.m. Tickets.

The Mooseheads have their first Austrians. Rookies Paul Sintschnig, 17, the second overall pick in the CHL Import Draft, and Nico Uschan, 19, are the first Austrians to play for the team in its 30 years. Read more.

Last day to win Frenchy's: The Thrift Musical tickets

Frenchy's: The Thrift Musical runs at Alderney Landing Theatre in Dartmouth until November 1, and every performance is pay what you can. We're giving away four tickets to the performance of your choice from October 24 to November 1. Entries close tonight at 11:59 p.m.

This week's best shows and events

Thursday, October 22

Conversations in Trust at the Halifax Central Library Michael Crummey, francesca ekwuyasi and Naben Ruthnum talk with Mary Lynk, presented by the Writers' Trust with AfterWords. 6 p.m.

ReJigged Festival at the Sanctuary Arts Centre Three nights of traditional music and dance open with The MacGillivrays, through Saturday. 7:30 p.m.

Deepwater at Neptune Dan Bray's Playwrights Guild of Canada Drama Award winner, a "surreal procedural" about an RCMP inspector and a missing girl's cold case. Runs to November 1. 7:30 p.m.

Devour! The Food Film Fest in Wolfville The last days of this year's festival, themed around the sea, with 50 films and chefs including Michelin-starred Joël Watanabe. Runs to Sunday.

Museum Pieces at Bearly's 8 p.m.

Friday, October 23

ReJigged Festival at the Sanctuary Arts Centre Night two, with Cassie and Maggie, and Traverse with Nic Gareiss. 7:30 p.m.

Alex Cuba and Symphony Nova Scotia at the Rebecca Cohn 7:30 p.m.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Carbon Arc Part of Carbon Arc's Thrills & Chills Halloween series. 9 p.m.

Afrobass Party with Dope Caesar at the Marquee 9 p.m.

Nick Campbell at Bearly's Visiting from Toronto. 9 p.m.

Y2K Spooktacular at the Seahorse 11 p.m.

Also Friday Mooseheads vs Cape Breton at 7 p.m. (see Sports) and the Dead of Night Market from 5 p.m. (see Market Pulse).

Saturday, October 24

Backpacker's Bazaar Hike Nova Scotia's used outdoor gear sale on Robie Street, 10 a.m. (see Market Pulse).

Krisanne Crowell and The Blues Bandits at Bearly's 4 p.m.

Lynn Miles at The Carleton 8 p.m.

Corey Isenor's CD release at Bearly's 9:30 p.m.

Also Saturday The Toller Canadian Tuxedo Party at 4 p.m., LOUD WOMEN Fest from 5 p.m. and Mat Hughes' album release at St. Matthew's, doors 7 p.m. (all above), plus ReJigged's closing night at the Sanctuary Arts Centre.

Deantha Edmunds, Princess Kusugak and DalChorus The Inuk soprano at the Joseph Strug Concert Hall. 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, October 25

Felix Slander, Quinn Leblanc and friends at Bearly's 3 p.m.

Chicken Run in Mi'kmaq at Carbon Arc The 15th anniversary of the Mi'kmaq dub, with Deep Cuts, for Mi'kmaq History Month. Pay what you choose. 5:30 p.m.

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at Neptune Closing day. 2 p.m.

Tuesday, October 27

Garrett Mason's Peace and Love Festival at Bearly's 8:30 p.m.

Also TuesdayDeepwater at Neptune at 7:30 p.m.

JB Smoove at the Rebecca Cohn 7:30 p.m.

Sold out at The Carleton this week Shaggy Dog Story Night (Thursday), Garnet Rogers (Friday and the Saturday matinee), the J. Chalmers Doane tribute and First of Bells (Sunday), and Irish Mythen (Wednesday).

Market Pulse

Dead of Night Market

Friday, October 23, 5–9 p.m.

Different Folks' only night market this year, with 28 vendors, at the Halifax Brewery Market, 1496 Lower Water Street.

Backpacker's Bazaar

Saturday, October 24, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Hike Nova Scotia's sale of used outdoor clothing and gear at St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church Hall, 3751 Robie Street, with door prizes. Pay what you can at the door.

Haunted Night Market

Sunday, October 25, 4–8 p.m.

The Pop Up Market Co.'s Halloween market at Alderney Landing, with a haunted house.

Know an East Coast artist, event or story we should have on our radar? Hit reply.

Thanks for reading,

Greg

PS: Enjoying Halifamous and want to support? We have a few super dope Hali Hats still available!