End-of-Summer Event Guide: The blues (and other colours) coming soon to Dartmouth

“Canada’s greatest living guitar player,” “true bluesman at heart,” “greatest stuff I’ve ever heard”: those are just some of many descriptions given online to Truro-raised Garrett Mason. His skill and virtuosity on the guitar are beyond description, and his music, a mix of blues, folk, and pure energy, is magical. If you want to see his show, now is the time to book your babysitter, because Garrett Mason is playing in the Woodside Tavern on Pleasant Street on Sept. 5.

For music you can enjoy with your kids, the Dartmouth Sunshine Series at the Sullivan’s Pond Band Stand ends their season on Monday, Sept. 1, with a performance by Rankin McInnis, Nova Scotia’s Entertainer of the Year 2023. This band is folksy, easy, fun, and great for young and old. The concert is free – bring your own lawnchair or blanket, let the kids run, and enjoy the end of summer in style.

A few days later, spend a day filled with family-friendly fun, high-energy DJ sets, live entertainment, and an explosion of vibrant colours to dance in at the 10th Annual Halifax Colour Festival, held at Alderney Landing on Sept. 6. Kids are free, and tickets come with 100 percent biodegradable and non-toxic colour pouches, ensuring full immersion into the festival’s spirit. Also in September: the indoor theatre season is starting up again, with the Dartmouth Players putting on Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” (Sept. 11 to 27 at 44 Hester Street), a classic murder mystery where everybody has a secret to hide… including one murder. But that’s not the only mystery in town. The Eastern Front Theatre is playing “Coal Bowl Queen,” a new play about a basketball tournament, a pageant queen, and a decades-long mystery in the Cape Breton Island town of New Waterford (Sept. 11 to 21 at Alderney Landing).

And if you enjoy classic movies, head over to Cole Harbour Heritage Farm Museum on Aug. 31 for a free outdoor screening of the 1973 film Charlotte’s Web, projected onto the barn wall. Bring your own lawn chair and blanket; refreshments are available.

If you would like to propose an event for inclusion in this column, email details (incl. date/location) to southdartmouthpostevents@gmail.com.