Experience Arts & Culture in Nova Scotia this Winter
Create unforgettable memories with friends and family this winter through vibrant arts and crafts, UNESCO World Heritage sites and more!
Our past becomes a full-on sensory experience at each of the 10 living history sites in Nova Scotia. Cannons blast and blacksmiths forge as interpreters get in character to make history something you can touch – and even taste.
Halifax Citadel National Historic Site
Originally built as a military fort to protect the Empire from enemies, today the Halifax Citadel acts as a reminder of Halifax’s storied past as you enter its fortified walls. Visit a place where the sounds of a modern, bustling port city are exchanged for the skirl of bagpipes and the blast of the noonday gun that is still fired daily.
If you are feeling brave you may want to slip into the shadows of the Halifax Citadel and experience the Halifax Citadel Ghost Tour, find out if the many legends of ghost hauntings are true.
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site
The Fortress of Louisbourg, located on beautiful Cape Breton Island, is North America’s largest historical reconstruction. Here you can step back in time to when the French and English crowns fought for control of the New World, and all of Nova Scotia was a battleground. No visit is complete without taking part in historical gardening, cooking over an open fire, rum tasting, or firing a cannon. You can even camp 18th-century style or stay in 18th-century accommodations within the walls of the Fortress!
Port-Royal National Historic Site
Explore Port-Royal, a reconstruction of the 1605 French settlement, and one of the first settlement in North America. Located on the Annapolis Basin, Port-Royal is also where Samuel de Champlain founded North America’s first social club, The Order of Good Cheer. The Order of Good Cheer inspired the naming of the Good Cheer Trail which is Canada’s first and only winery, brewery, cidery and distillery trail.
Sherbrooke Village Museum
Travel back to the 19th century at Nova Scotia’s largest living history museum, Sherbrooke Village, located on the beautiful Eastern Shore. Our proud heritage is brought to life by costumed interpreters, including blacksmiths, potters, woodsmiths, weavers and printers. You can even get dressed up in period costume and have your photo taken at Canada’s only Ambrotype glass photo studio!
Le Village historique acadien de la Nouvelle-Écosse
Discover the rich Acadian heritage at this early 1900s seaside village, situated on a beautiful 17-acre site overlooking Pubnico Harbour that was founded in 1653, making it the oldest Acadian region still inhabited by descendants of its founder. Watch as interpreters demonstrate many aspects of the life in the village including boat building, the building of lobster-fishing traps, mending fishing nets, blacksmithing and much more.
Memory Lane Heritage Village
Visit Memory Lane Heritage Village, an award-winning living history village depicting life in rural Nova Scotia during the 1940s, and tour 16 restored buildings with period artifacts and antique vehicles including a 1928 Model A. Visit the general store, one-room schoolhouse, church, icehouse and cookhouse and learn about the rural industries such as gold mining, forestry, fishing and boat building as you tour the village.
Highland Village Museum | Baile nan Gàidheal
Explore North America’s only living history museum for Gaelic language and culture when you explore the Baile nan Gàidheal | Highland Village Museum in Iona on Cape Breton Island. Take part in a traditional céilidh or milling frolic, hear Gaelic singing and learn to speak Gaelic phrases while you become captivated by the spirit of the pioneering Scottish Gaels. Watch as costumed interpreters demonstrate traditional skills such as weaving, quilting and rug hooking while exploring the beautiful village, set on a hill overlooking the Bras d’Or Lake, that features a Hebridean style blackhouse, a 19th-century wooden church, period farmhouses, and farm animals such as Soay sheep and Highland cattle. .
Ross Farm Museum
Discover what life was like on a family farm over 100 years ago in Nova Scotia when you visit Ross Farm Museum. Much of the farm remains as it was in the 1800s with daily activities such as wool spinning and ox shoeing, barrel making, gardening and baking. Experience yesterday’s traditional farming methods, such as wool spinning, ox shoeing, horse-drawn wagon rides or wintertime sleigh rides as you chat with costumed interpreters as you connect with Nova Scotia’s rural heritage.
Hector Heritage Quay
The Hector Heritage Quay, located on the Pictou waterfront, tells the story of the 18th-century Scottish migration to the New World and of Pictou, the “Birthplace of New Scotland”. A full-sized replica of the Ship Hector has been undergoing restoration since 2020 and will relaunch in 2025.
Quaker House
Learn the history of Nova Scotia’s Quaker settlers when visiting Quaker House (c 1785) in downtown Dartmouth. Guided tours are given during the summer months by costumed interpreters, and a pioneer dress-up trunk is on site for children to enjoy.
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