TEAM LETTER
EARLY SUMMER 2026 – Loud and proud
Welcome to issue No. 19 of HAMILTON CITY Magazine!
We aimed high when we decided to launch a magazine, there is no doubt about that. At a time when local media options are disappearing and longstanding institutions are shrinking, we decided: sure, let’s launch a glossy print magazine with no corporate backing.
There were plenty of polite nods and more than one snarky “you won’t last a year” remark. That’s OK. We weren’t sure we would last a year either.
To be honest, we still don’t know if we were brave or crazy when we kicked off with the first HAMILTON CITY Magazine in September 2022. It’s likely the jury is still out on that.
But what is clear is that Hamilton needs and deserves a high-quality, city magazine that shines a light on the dynamic arts and culture happening here, along with the enviable food and drink scene, and the diverse local economy, but also the critical urban challenges facing us, and what makes Hamilton a fascinating – and let’s face it, sometimes frustrating – place to live.
What is truly remarkable about Hamilton is that this is a historic city, full of ambition and enormous pride, a unique place all its own, but also a city still becoming what it will ultimately be.
We started this magazine because we love Hamilton and we love it even more after producing close to 800 stories about the amazing individuals and incredible organizations doing impressive things on every front. There is so much talent with so much passion in this town, and so many tales to tell.
In fact, aside from generating revenue that will make us a sustainable venture (please subscribe, advertise with us or convince someone else to!), our greatest challenge is finding enough print space to cover all the stories that deserve attention.
So with that, this edition is dedicated to both Pride and the local music scene. And we are proud to be an LGBTQIA+-owned-and-operated organization, and to be an entirely local and independent voice on the local arts scene.
Happy spring!
— Meredith MacLeod and Will Vipond Tait/ Co-publishers
SPRING – Shining our light
We can’t wait for you to dig into the 18th print issue of HAMILTON CITY Magazine! We are thrilled to be a promotional partner with the 2026 JUNO Awards in Hamilton happening March 26 to 29.
This is a key event for our city and is a highlight of the City of Music campaign by the City of Hamilton. It’s a chance for regional visitors and a national TV audience to see the transformed TD Coliseum, along with our great smaller venues, everything from FirstOntario Concert Hall, The Music Hall, and Mills Hardware, to the historic Corktown Irish Pub, and The Underground, Henry’s on James, Ooey Gooey’s, and The Bright Room at The Staircase.
It’s also an opportunity to show off our city’s growth, our enviable food scene, the friendliness of our people, and, of course, the amazing local musical talent that calls Hamilton home.
JUNOS Week will make Hamilton the epicentre of Canadian music for four exciting days. It’s our chance to welcome the country’s music industry and fans, but also an opportunity to build a legacy for our city.
Read all about the past, present, and future of The JUNOS in Hamilton in our 14-page scrapbook. We have a complete guide to all the events, and a look at the iconic moments that have happened during Hamilton’s previous six turns at hosting. We talk to our region’s JUNO winners about how that moment changed their careers. And HCM music contributor Dylan Hudecki has built a curated 48-hour guide to the city you won’t want to miss.
In this issue, you’ll also learn about the upcoming Arkells album and about an exciting new partnership for music education charity the Hamilton Music Collective that includes Hamilton’s NBA superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Finally, check out our story about Ridiculous, a new venue in the historic Right House building that is being booked by Brodie Schwendiman, the longtime mover and shaker behind the beloved Casbah.
Be sure to bookmark hamiltoncitymagazine.ca and follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We will have wall-to-wall digital coverage of all things JUNOS!
WINTER – The beat goes on
This is issue No.17 of HAMILTON CITY Magazine and we hope you love it.
This is a special edition in a lot of ways.
Our cover story documents the reopening of Hamilton’s downtown arena at TD Coliseum. It’s a historic moment — a huge investment in our city and a new chapter in the life of a beloved venue.
With this issue, we are thrilled to be embarking on exciting partnerships with Tourism Hamilton on its 2026 City of Music campaign, The JUNO Awards coming in March, and with the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce on its many community initiatives.
Also, this is our first “concept” cover, rather than a portrait shot. We are proud that with just one exception, each of our covers has been an original photo of a story subject. And 15 of our covers have been shot by Hamilton photographer Marta Hewson, who is featured in this issue along with her husband Jerrold Hewson. They are opening Revival Art Store in the Crown Point neighbourhood.
They make us think of the risk-taking of entrepreneurs.
It’s often said that small business is the backbone of our economy. This is absolutely true in Hamilton, where, according to Invest in Hamilton data, 55.4 per cent of businesses (8,564) are considered micro — defined as one to four employees, and another 42.5 per cent are small — defined as five to 99 employees.
HCM is in great company in the micro category, joining so many entrepreneurs pouring long hours, passion, and sleepless nights into their businesses. We are proud to showcase such enterprises in every issue of our magazine, from restaurants, to artists and artisans, to boutique retail.
Please support them whenever you can, especially as we head into the crucial holiday season. In this issue, we are highlighting some amazing local gift-giving ideas in our annual gift guide.
We have heard from readers that they did all their holiday shopping last year through our gift guide. What a huge compliment! If we could ask one favour, please tell these local businesses that you read about them in HCM.
And if you’re looking for the perfect gift for a friend, relative or neighbour who loves Hamilton and what makes it a fabulous and fascinating place to call home, consider giving them a gift subscription to HCM. You’ll be helping us continue to tell the great stories of Hamilton.
From our HCM family to yours, all the best for the holidays!
— Meredith MacLeod and Will Vipond Tait/ Co-publishers
P.S. Our next print comes out in March 2026!
FALL – Three years in
We are three years old!
It’s hard to believe we’ve come this far. It seems like both yesterday and decades ago that HAMILTON CITY Magazine launched in September 2022. Our founding team of five members has shrunk to two and though we are small, we are mighty and very much committed to producing a high-quality urban magazine that tells stories no one else is telling.
We are grateful to a wonderful team of freelance contributors who share their talents and expertise with us and with you. We are grateful to our fantastic volunteers, who believe in what we are doing and take care of bookkeeping and subscriptions, and proofread our pages.
We are grateful to our subscribers, who support our publication (you can, too, at hamiltoncitymagazine.ca/subscription), and to our advertisers, who value local, independent journalism that shines a spotlight on what makes Hamilton a fabulous, fascinating and – yes – sometimes frustrating place to live, work, play and invest.
We absolutely could not be publishing this, our 16th issue without each and every person who has played a role in our magazine. Thank you.
We are asking that more of you consider investing in the sustainability of HCM through subscribing, advertising, and creating partnerships with us. There is so much we can do together for the love of Hamilton. In times such as these, working as partners is truly the only way forward.
Here’s a glimpse into one of the many challenges we face. We heard recently from the marketing manager of a major institution in our region who said he likes our publication but that his organization is spending less every year on traditional media, and more
with Meta.
This directly translates to spending less on the outlets that employ local people and actually cover our community and more with a U.S.-based social media giant owned by billionaires that has a highly problematic record when it comes to political interference, amplifying misinformation, breaching the privacy of users, and suppressing protest, among many other transgressions.
So much for supporting local and Elbows Up.
If you appreciate the content we are producing, the fact that we pay for the work of local writers and photographers (and only local!), and that we highlight the inspiring contributions of our community’s artists, creators, and entrepreneurs to the vibrancy of our city, please let your voices be heard.
Tell our advertisers that you see them in HCM. If you read about a restaurant or other local business in our pages, let them know. And please urge the businesses and cultural organizations you support to spend with us.
Hamilton is a big city but it’s also a small town. Each of you have the power to ensure that HCM can continue to grow and thrive.
With gratitude,
Meredith MacLeod and Will Vipond Tait, co-publishers
SUMMER – Join us!
Welcome to our third music issue!
Hamilton is a true music town and if you have any doubt about that, read this magazine and know that this represents a fraction of what is happening in the music scene in this city. In fact, we could publish 300 pages and still not cover it all.
Check out Jamie Tennant’s interview with HPO music director James Kahane and his story about music’s tiny temple at The Mule Spinner, along with a fascinating look at 55 years of Steel Town’s breakout bands by Dylan Hudecki, and our Q&A with Nick DeLuco, the general manager of the $300-million transformation of Hamilton Arena.
We’ve also got a deep dive into the 900-kilometre, made-in-Hamilton dream that is the Bruce Trail, a look at local independent bookstores, and a tasty plunge into the food scene of James Street North, along with a roundup of great Southern food offerings.
We are constantly stunned and thrilled by the depth and breadth of arts and culture, food and drink and city life happenings in Hamilton. We are so lucky to live in such a vibrant city and in trying and uncertain times, we know that art and culture is an even more powerful force.
Our mission at HAMILTON CITY Magazine is to shine a spotlight on the artists, creatives, entrepreneurs, non-profits, civic leaders and movers and shakers who make the city a fabulous place to live. Please help us to keep doing that.
We need you to subscribe, share our content on social media, reach out to us with story ideas and feedback, and to support our advertisers. If you are a local business owner and want to see Hamilton explored and celebrated in a high-quality magazine of its own, please consider supporting our mission by advertising with us.
We are local and independent in a time of the consolidation and corporatization of our media voices.
We have said it before and we’ll say it again, it takes a village to support a local urban magazine.
– The HCM team
P.S. Hounds of Hamilton is our celebration of local pets. Send us your best canine (or feline!) candids to hounds@ hamiltoncitymagazine.ca, along with your pet’s name, breed, age, neighbourhood, favourite hiking spots, some information about his/her personality traits, what they love, and any other fun facts we should know. Make your pet a star!
