Live updates: Nocturne has hit the ground running

• • The NOISEmakers group animation is currently being displayed at Rogers Square downtown.
  • Nocturne’s art at night experience of over 100 installations, exhibits and experiences takes place from 6 p.m. to midnight tonight. 
  • Not sure where to go? Check out the 2025 projects here. 
  • Walk? Bike? Bus? Here’s how to get around at Nocturne.
  • Nocturne has a digital map, a visual map that’s available online to download, and physical maps you can pick up at various locations while supplies last.

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10:04

At Hermes Gallery, Dykhuis looks back

Peter Dykhuis has been making art for 45 years, and has exhibited internationally in Tokyo, Vienna and Sydney, Australia. 

He was born in London, Ont., and earned a bachelor of fine arts from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. In 1991, he moved to Halifax, and in 2007 he became the director and curator of the Dalhousie Art Gallery, before moving onto other projects and collaborations. 

Tonight, Dykhuis sits by the window of Hermes Gallery on North Street welcoming Nocturne participants into the gallery until midnight. 

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Eighteen artists participated in the gallery’s Nocturne event, about making art in dark times.

His piece is a five-year collection of his medical records, including his first positive COVID-19 test and a cataract surgery form. 

“A lot of my pieces have been about just collecting things and trying to make sense out of life, but not really knowing what it is until I start to lay it out.”

– Ellie Dickens, EllaTsang, Hannah Hartley

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9:40 p.m.

Newcomers show pottery

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Art made by the Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia (RRANS) Pottery Program is on display until midnight at the Prow Gallery. The pieces displayed came from eight months of weekly pottery classes as part of an arts initiative tailored to 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomers.

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9:15

Tying to Remember imbues tradition with vibrant emotion

Check out Daniel Rumbolt’s live performance of Tying to Remember on until 9:30 p.m. at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Rumbolt’s luminescent installation of a traditional fishing net called Cast Away and Caught Ashore is on display at the Queen’s Marque until midnight.

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9:12

Halifax waterfront comes alive with Nocturne creations

As the sun goes down, the people come out for Nocturne 2025. The Halifax waterfront is filled with numerous creative and interactive art pieces for people to enjoy and appreciate.

As it becomes dark, the creations on display become eye-catching. Let’s Draw by Maxime Touroute is one of them. His creation is an interactive space where everyone can interact with the wall from their phones.

His goal for tonight is “to create a sense of community and connection throughout generations across Halifax.”

For many artists in the city, Nocturne provides an opportunity for engagement with the public. “It draws a lot of audience for projects, which is an opportunity we don’t always have,” said Touroute.

People can connect to this piece as simply as scanning a QR code. Maxime’s work will be available on the waterfront until midnight on Saturday. 

– Riley Shields and Olivier Berube-MacInnis

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9:02

Dalhousie students get constructive with interactive exhibit

Outside the Dalhousie Architecture building, groups of people gather around Extraction, the immersive exhibit created by Dal architecture students Blake Klotz, Jacob MacDougall, Camila Lima, Maya Kerfoot, and Melanie Roberts.  

Under drizzling, cool skies, onlookers take turns picking up pieces of wood and placing them on a pre-built structure illuminated by bright lights. Blake Klotz runs around the structure, removing pieces to be reused by people waiting to go next in order to keep up with the demand.

“So the idea is that, by extracting the material, you’re building something beautiful. It’s kind of this irony of we have to think about what we are building,” said Klotz. 

The students have been on site since 8 a.m., when they started construction of the frame, but say it’s worth it when they watch the Halifax community come together to appreciate their piece. 

“Its been great,” Klotz said. “We even had this one kid who stayed and added wood to the whole bottom section of the piece.”

– Amanda Wright

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8:58

Nature leaves its mark

Guests pile into the Artists’ Quarter at 2594 Agricola Street Halifax, to experience the interactive art piece Marked by Nature by the Nova Scotia Book Arts Group.

This Nocturne location offers guests a chance to create their own art with all-natural organic supplies. Sally Crawford explained how her book group collected bird feathers, sticks, and parts of trees and leaves to use as natural marking tools.

“This was our favourite one. We got to be creative,” said attendees Hannah Gauthier and Brennan Marus.

“It is the colours and the textures of the earth. You’ve embedded that in something you get to hold, and it doesn’t last forever, but what on Earth does?” said Sally Crawford.

When creating the bookmarks, the group buried watercolour paper and left it in the ground for several weeks before cutting it into shape. The group extracted colourants from different wild plants like blueberries and tansies to create natural colours to decorate with.

“I think it’s important that we see the earth around us, the nature, and what Earth is doing, because if we don’t see it, we don’t look after it,” said Crawford.

– Ellie Dickens, Hannah Hartley,  Ella Tsang

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8:38 p.m.

Grounded in colour

On Clyde Street, the pavement has come alive. 

Artist Amber Solberg’s installation Drawn to It invites Nocturne participants to get their hands dirty and look closely at the ground beneath them. 

Solberg outlined large illustrations of Nova Scotia’s wild plants and insects and asked visitors to colour them in, using more than 500 pieces of handmade, eco-friendly chalk. 

“I love seeing people who don’t usually think of themselves as artists jump in,” Solberg said. “It’s about making art something anyone can touch.” 

People of all ages joined in as the pavement filled with blues, pinks and greens. 

“It feels so good to be part of the community,” said Clara, one of the participants, as she coloured the piece. 

As colour spread across the street, Drawn to It let everyone leave their mark on Nocturne — even if it washes away with the rain expected Sunday. 

– Sequoia Thoms

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8:30 p.m.

NOISEmakers’ Nocturne debut highlights the impacts of collaboration

Aiming to build connections and establish belonging, Nocturne’s NOISEmakers brought together a group of seven newcomers over the summer. Tonight, they are displaying their work as part of the festival.

Based on the theme Ground, the group collaborated on an animation where six participants each made 30-second clips, and the seventh made the soundtrack tying the video clips together. 

Nahom Assefa, one of the group, said in an interview ahead of Nocturne that NOISEmakers changed him. This was the first time Assefa made art with other people and, while it was a challenge to not have full creative freedom, he was inspired by his fellow artists.

“Just getting to learn about what they were working on, what they were working for… Refreshed me, like really refreshed me,” he said.

The animation is being shown at Rogers Square in downtown Halifax.  

– Mariana Luz

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8:27 p.m.

Allison delves into destruction, revival through an array of media

From digital projections and sculpture to performances, soundscapes and even plant-based film processing, artists are exploring this year’s theme Ground through a variety of mediums.

During the 2023 Nocturne Festival, multidisciplinary Métis artist Carrie Allison collaborated with Indigenous artists Jordan Bennett, Amy Malbeuf and Jordan Hill, to create Fissure, an installation exploring the tension between devastation and renewal.

Through mixed media — from audio-visual footage to intricate beadwork — the work confronted the destructive forces of climate change and forest fires, while inviting audiences to reflect on the potential of rebirth after devastation.

This year, Allison continues to merge beading with other media in her anchor project a bead, a breath, a multigenerational installation based on breath, care and connection. Featuring two videos — Our Hands, Our Body, Our Spirit (2022) and My Moon (2023), alongside soundscapes and interactive bead sculptures, Allison responds to the question guiding the 2025 festival: How do we ground ourselves?

– Ellie Garry-Jones and Nicky Nicholson

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8:10 p.m.

Installation digs into effects of mining

At the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Pleasure Prospects is giving an inside look at the world of mining prospectors.  

Through song, dance, and synchronized swimming, the video explores the connection between the harmful practices of mineral extraction, and the effect it has on human bodies. 

Michael McCormack, who works with the gallery and helped set up the installation, holds the film in high regard. “There’s a lot of, like, really rich beautiful moments in the film, both sound and visual, that are really compelling,” says McCormack. 

Visitors are welcomed by a museum curator, and are invited into the courtyard to enjoy the striking visuals and ambient music. 

McCormack says the group seeks to promote new ways of thinking on how to mine the earth, focusing on “care and love, things other than just for profit.” The installation will run until midnight on Saturday. 

– Olivier Berube-Macinnis and Riley Shields

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7:58 p.m.

Nocturne theme grounds viewers to Halifax’s roots

For nearly two decades, Nocturne has been transforming Halifax nights into an annual celebration of the arts. Since 2008, the small volunteer project has grown into one of Atlantic Canada’s most anticipated festivals. Contemporary art is taken out of the galleries into the streets, becoming accessible to everyone.

Each year, a new theme ties artists and audiences together. This year’s theme, Ground, invites visitors to reconnect with Halifax’s roots — its land, its stories, and the creativity that continues to grow from them.

The festival was inspired by the European events of Nuit Blanche, meaning “white night” or “sleepless night”. The annual event started in Paris, attracting millions each year. This occasion gave rise to art-after-dark festivals all over the globe, including Halifax.

– Viktoriia Dziubenko, Inbal Metzler, Riley Shields, Ella Tsang, Sequoia Thoms, Mariana Luz, Al-Maysaa Shaheen  

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7:48 p.m.

A brighter day awaits at the Halifax Public Gardens

If you’re in downtown Halifax, make a stop at the Halifax Public Gardens and check out A Path To Brighter Days designed by florist Neville MacKay.

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7:08 p.m.

Explore Nocturne on foot or on wheels

Planning your Nocturne route is as much of an art form as the pieces themselves.

One possible approach is to pick a starting point and work outward. Many installations are close together, so walking is an easy way to explore.

Biking is another convenient option, with free bike valets available only on Oct. 19, stationed at the Halifax Central Library on Spring Garden Road. The Alderney Ferry Terminal makes ferry transit between downtown Halifax and Dartmouth simple, singing you to the other side of the festival with Ferry-oke. 

In Dartmouth, artists transform the city at a slower pace with billboards, murals, and Twin Peaks night at Morley’s, offering cherry pie and coffee with a theme from the 1990s TV show created by director David Lynch.

No matter how you approach the festival,  there is no right route to take, only the one that you make.

– Zoe Moniz, Georgia Rose Becklumb, Kaysee Zimmerman, Mariana Luz, Al-Maysaa Shaheen

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6:40 p.m.

Nocturne launch party was full of excitement

Nocturne artists and community members kicked off the weekend with a launch party on Oct. 16, at Propeller Brewing on Gottingen Street.

The event included live music by CALAS and The Dream Zone, an immersive installation by Alex MacAskill.

The Signal attended the event and asked folks about their experience with Nocturne, what they were most excited for heading into the weekend and what they believe events like Nocturne do for the art community in Halifax.

Nocturne volunteer co-ordinator Alexandra Cherry highlighted the event’s success over the years. “Not all art festivals last that long. We’re coming to the age of maturity at 18 years old,” she said. “This allows an entry point for emerging artists to begin their arts career in a professional capacity.”

John Robidoux, a Nocturne artist with The Magpie Collective, said the festival helps bring warmth to the HRM community as everyone comes together.

“It’s the reaction that the people have when they’re interacting with your art piece, just warms your heart and makes you happy.” 

– Layla Caplice

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6:30 p.m.

The Pop Can serves as Nocturne HQ

Located in Halifax’s vibrant waterfront, a shipping container known as the Pop Can has turned into Nocturne’s central hub, welcoming visitors since Wednesday leading up to the festival’s main night.

Presented by Build Nova Scotia, the Hub offers festival guides, stickers, and insider information for anyone curious about the weekend’s installations. The guides map out exhibits across the city and share details about this year’s theme and schedule.

Echoing the theme, Ground, the Hub feels like a starting point – a place to pause, get your bearings, and step into the city’s network of art installations.

The Pop Can draws both locals and tourists. On Friday afternoon, a dozen volunteers and organizers were on hand – some at the Hub, others walking the waterfront to chat with visitors. Artists also stopped by to socialize ahead of their installations.

“The Hub is meant to be a place where the volunteers can come as well as the public to know more about the festival,“ one volunteer explained. Compact but lively, the Pop Can captures Nocturne’s spirit – art everywhere, for everyone.

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6:21 p.m.

Here’s how to check out Nocturne on foot

With more than 80 artists exhibiting tonight, here are three walking tours to help guide your exploration.

At 7 p.m., the Indigenous City Noc-Tour kicks off with Megan Samms’ moving image exhibit Remember Ktaqmkuk in Peace & Friendship, followed by Sydney Wreak’s community project Gathering in a Good Way, a Dalhousie University collaborative sound art exhibition called Mi’kmaw Soundwalk and more.

The Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Loop Noc-Tour offers three tours, at 6:30, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. and features Martha Mutale’s Rag Dolls 2.0, Maria Simmons’s Night Bloomers, Rewild Wine’s Plant and Pour event and more.

The French-Language Noc-Tour, presented by Alliance Francaise, begins at 7 p.m. at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic with Daniel Rumbolt’s live performance of Tying to Remember. The tour loops past Éric-Olivier Thériault’s Prismatic Trespassing, Annie Briard’s Le Francofest Présente Paysages Parlés and ends with Maxime Touroute’s interactive exhibit Let’s Draw.

– Meredith McCullum

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6:00 p.m.

The Signal is reporting live from Nocturne 2025

Tonight, The Signal’s reporters and photographers are spread out all over the city to capture the sights, sounds and feelings of Nocturne. 

Our team in the field and here in the newsroom will bring you updates, exclusive interviews and the most extensive coverage available as the nighttime art festival unfolds. 

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