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Food + Drink

Hamilton-made cotton candy hot sauce is the official hot sauce of the CNE

CNE Sweet Heat, by Tijuana Tom's House of Hot Sauce, will be featured on a concoction by Jerk Dogs, another Hamilton brand, which is serving its chicken hot dogs on a waffle bun, topped with cotton candy and big drizzle of hot sauce. The CNE opens today and…
City Life

Kenadie, how do I talk to pretty girls?

Welcome to the monthly column from Hamilton drag queen Kenadie St. James! Read on for the best bad advice you’ve ever had! Hamilton, your problems are officially about to get WORSE. 💋 Local drag legend Kenadie St. James is serving up catastrophically bad life advice in her new HAMILTON…
Arts + Culture

HAMILTON READS

From pantless guinea pigs and spicy romantic fantasy, and from a tragically needless death in Ancaster to wartime memories hashed out in a Hamilton bar, these are local reads to heat up your summer! Summer is the perfect time to conquer your to-be-read pile, whether you’re soaking in…
Arts + Culture

It’s 10 years of the Bard under the stars for Tottering Biped Theatre

Hamilton’s Tottering Biped Theatre celebrates a decade of staging summer Shakespeare with its most ambitious season yet – three 2026 productions and many returning artists. Ten years is a milestone few indie theatre companies can boast. Amid economic challenges, competing entertainments, and changing audiences, making theatre as an…
Made in Hamilton

Saving the strays at Ladybird Animal Sanctuary

After rescuing nearly 1,900 animals over 16 years, Hamilton-based Ladybird Animal Sanctuary is close to creating a farm that will be a refuge for animals in desperate need. It all started with three friends working together for one unforgettable cat. Sweet Oliver the cat was the first…
Made in Hamilton

Made in Hamilton: The Mabel’s Labels Story

A frustrating parenting problem, a vision to solve it, and some tenacity helped a quartet of moms create an enduring brand. Read on for co-founder Julie Cole's six business lessons learned. Over 23 years ago, my sister and two friends, all of us former students…
City Life

Wesley: Never standing still

The made-in-Hamilton non-profit began its work in a church basement 71 years ago. Focused on poverty, homelessness, and the complex social challenges at the root of those issues, Wesley’s more than 300 staff lead critical social programs in 17 locations in Hamilton and beyond. Ryan S. was…
Arts + Culture

Festival season: Summer on parade

Here is your hot 2026 summer festivals guide for Hamilton and Burlington. You’ll find everything from inaugural events to two local traditions that are turning 50 years old this year! Our summers may be short but fortunately for us, the list of local festivals is long. Spend warm-weather…

you are HAMILTON

HAMILTON CITY Magazine’s mission is to tell the stories that celebrate the city’s past, present and future by featuring stunning photography, illustrations and world-class writing. It’s your city. It’s your magazine.


Happening Now

THINGS TO DO IN HAMILTON, BURLINGTON

We are spoiled for things to see and do in #HamOnt and #BurlOn. HAMILTON CITY Magazine helps you keep up with it all. Think of us as your plugged-in friend who knows all the cool stuff happening around town! Get out and enjoy – and tell them HCM sent you!
City Life

Hounds of Hamilton

We need a big dose of dogs these days so this HAMILTON CITY Magazine feature celebrates the city's pets. Send in your best canine (feline, avian, reptile – we don't discriminate) candids to hounds@hamiltoncitymagazine.ca! Escape the relentless news cycle, doom scrolling and polarizing politics,…
HCC
Food + Drink

Hamilton-made cotton candy hot sauce is the official hot sauce of the CNE

CNE Sweet Heat, by Tijuana Tom's House of Hot Sauce, will be featured on a concoction by Jerk Dogs, another Hamilton brand, which is serving its chicken hot dogs on a waffle bun, topped with cotton candy and big drizzle of hot sauce. The CNE opens today and…
Arts + Culture

HAMILTON READS

From pantless guinea pigs and spicy romantic fantasy, and from a tragically needless death in Ancaster to wartime memories hashed out in a Hamilton bar, these are local reads to heat up your summer! Summer is the perfect time to conquer your to-be-read pile, whether you’re soaking in…
Arts + Culture

Opera Untamed: ‘Puccini to Dolly Parton’

Felicia Valenti wanted a platform to perform as a soprano, but something that wouldn’t intimidate audiences. She’s created Opera Untamed, a cross-genre music series. Singer, actor, and independent arts promoter Felicia Valenti believes opera shouldn’t require gowns or tuxes and that music is better when it doesn’t…
Arts + Culture

Hamilton venues: Music on the move

The ever-changing landscape of Hamilton’s music clubs has seen mainstays replaced with an eclectic mix of smaller venues, and shows staged in some interesting spaces.  Hamilton’s music club venues are in a constant state of flux. Just as the city’s thriving restaurant scene features a regular and…
Arts + Culture

REVIEW: Theatre Ancaster’s A Chorus Line kicks up its heels

The entertaining and enduring Broadway classic is the first production on Theatre Ancaster’s 30th anniversary playbill for 2026-2027. Entering its final weekend of shows, Theatre Ancaster’s mainstage production of A Chorus Line provides a great opportunity to see a Broadway classic and be very well entertained by a…
Arts + Culture

It’s 10 years of the Bard under the stars for Tottering Biped Theatre

Hamilton’s Tottering Biped Theatre celebrates a decade of staging summer Shakespeare with its most ambitious season yet – three 2026 productions and many returning artists. Ten years is a milestone few indie theatre companies can boast. Amid economic challenges, competing entertainments, and changing audiences, making theatre as an…
Arts + Culture

Local production of Pippin is ‘pure theatre magic’

Curtain Call Performaing Arts Company presents the classic, timeless musical as part of its Passion Project series at Gasworks until Aug. 21. Magical. Unpredictable. Extraordinary. Illusion. Discovery. Authentic. The members of Curtain Call Performing Arts Company have different words by which to describe their upcoming production…