Art pops up all across downtown Halifax as annual Nocturne festival draws thousands

Published on October 19, 2014

METRO/HALIFAX As the sun set in downtown Halifax on Saturday night, art installations began popping up everywhere, scattered around the city like so many fallen leaves. In Grand Parade Square, Roy Caussy stoked coals to build a fire that formed part of a display he called Smokelife 3.

BRAEDON CLARK METRO

Colleen MacIsaac paints a ceiling tile during the Nocturne festival in Halifax on Saturday.

Outside Neptune Theatre, Colleen MacIsaac painted Sambro Islands Gas House on a ceiling tile.

Along the waterfront, Ryan Josey projected a series of nautical flags, each representing a coded message, onto a screen. He hoped that people would come by and create their own messages.

Whatever the motivation, all of these artists had at least one thing in common: They were displaying their work as part of Nocturne, an art festival that took over the streets of downtown Halifax and Dartmouth on Saturday night.

The seventh annual affair, entirely run and organized by volunteers, drew many curious onlookers. In addition to the regular hustle and bustle of Saturday night in Halifax, many people could be seen staring at programs with all of the festival details, trying to figure out where to go next.

Where is Smokelife 3? Theres supposed to be hotdogs, one woman could be heard saying at Grand Parade Square, a confused look on her face.

Little did she know, the exhibit was just around the corner. It consisted of a blue tent tied to a tree and a fire in a garbage can where hot dogs would be grilled.

Read more:
Art pops up all across downtown Halifax as annual Nocturne festival draws thousands