page_title: Nova Scotia
section_title: Events and festivals
hierarchical_section_title: Nova Scotia / Culture / Events and festivals
caption_attribution_description: English: INSTRUMENTS live at Halifax Pop Explosion 2012
context_page_description: Nova Scotia is a province in eastern Canada. With a population of 923,598 as of 2016, it is the most populous of Canada's three Maritime provinces and four Atlantic provinces. It is the country's second-most densely populated province and second-smallest province by area, both after neighbouring Prince Edward Island. Its area of 55,284 square kilometres includes Cape Breton Island and 3,800 other coastal islands. The peninsula that makes up Nova Scotia's mainland is connected to the rest of North America by the Isthmus of Chignecto, on which the province's land border with New Brunswick is located. The province borders the Bay of Fundy to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east, and is separated from Prince Edward Island and the island of Newfoundland by the Northumberland and Cabot straits, respectively.
  The land that comprises what is now Nova Scotia has been inhabited by the indigenous Miꞌkmaq people for thousands of years. France's first settlement in North America, Port-Royal, was established in 1605 and intermittently served in various locations as the capital of the French colony of Acadia for over a hundred years.
context_section_description: There are a number of festivals and cultural events that are recurring in Nova Scotia, or notable in its history. The following is an incomplete list of festivals and other cultural gatherings in the province:
  Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival
  Atlantic Theatre Festival
  Atlantic Film Festival
  Atlantic Band Festival
  Cape Breton International Drum Festival
  Celtic Colours
  Evolve Festival
  Halifax Comedy Festival
  Halifax Pride
  Halifax Pop Explosion
  Nova Scotia Gaelic Mod
  Stan Rogers Folk Festival
  Stoked for the Holidays
  Strategic Partners
  Summer Rush
  The Word on the Street
  Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre
  Virgin Festival
caption: Performers at Halifax Pop Explosion, an annual music festival in Halifax
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot G11", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2012:10:26 01:27:31", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.7.5", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "300", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1154", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7506", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:10:19 17:13:23", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:10:19 17:13:23", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "189/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "61/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2104", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1756", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "456000/73", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "456000/73", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}