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Celebrating all things Hamilton / Welcome Message
Arts + Culture

Readers and writers: Your guide to gritLIT 2026

The literary festival offers five days of readings, panels, workshops, and social events that celebrate writers of all kinds and the readers who read them. For 22 years, the Hamilton-born gritLIT has celebrated established writers, helped new ones develop, and given readers a front-row seat to well over…
Arts + Culture

World premiere shines a light on Canada, The Hip, and what home really means

It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken, opening April 22 at Theatre Aquarius, is about connection, love, and saying something that needs to be said. That spirit, and the spirit of Gord Downie, are in the rehearsal room as this show comes to life, say its stars.
Arts + Culture

REVIEW: Calendar Girls is balm for weary souls

Story of group of English women posing nude to raise money for their church is a nuanced exploration of aging, expectation, disappointment, and refusing to accept limitations. Binbrook Little Theatre’s production features brave performances and a solid focus on the story. Uplifting stories seem hard to find these…
Arts + Culture

New music venues: This booker is back

Brodie Schwendiman, operator of the late and beloved Casbah, is back booking music in a new downtown venue called Ridiculous, and other live-music locations in the region. 2025 was a rollercoaster ride of a year for Brodie Schwendiman. The music club operator and booker has played a crucial…
Food + Drink

Chef Matty Matheson: By the books

The celebrity chef has now made his mark in Hamilton, with elevated pub Iron Cow Public House at TD Coliseum. So what can we glean about him from the recipes and stories in his three cookbooks?  For months, his name was on the lips of Hamilton food…
Arts + Culture

THE PLAYLIST

Dylan Hudecki is a Canadian indie-rock vet having played in many different bands, including By Divine Right, Cowlick, Slow Beach and The Dill. He’s a proud Hamiltonian who covers local album releases for HAMILTON CITY Magazine. TV FREAKS  – Blue Genie (garage, punk rock) Devotion, distortion, and the…
Food + Drink

Getting out: Music & menus

If live tunes help your food taste better, here’s a list of places where the grub is as good as the setlist! With this issue being HAMILTON CITY Magazine’s music issue, it seemed fitting to round-up a bundle of local restaurants where you can see and enjoy some…
City Life

Hounds of Hamilton

We need a big dose of dogs these days so HAMILTON CITY Magazine's new feature celebrates the city's canines. Send in your dogs (and cats)! Escape the relentless news cycle, doom scrolling and polarizing politics, and find joy and laughter in pets. Hounds of Hamilton…

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.


Arts + Culture

Big Hearts tackles big ideas onstage

The Man From Earth, a sci-fi play with a twist on stage at The Staircase, is a ‘quiet, cerebral piece that invites audiences to wrestle with big ideas about time, faith, and what it means to be human,’ says director Erin Newton. Science fiction isn’t the usual genre…
Happening Now

23 Hamilton craft markets for the holidays

We are heading into the shopping season and here are all the places you can cross names off your list and support local artists, artisans, and crafter at the same time. Looking for a craft show near you? Specifically, here’s a list of art, craft, and vendor markets…
Arts + Culture

LitLive: 30 years of Hamilton stories

The LitLive Reading Series began in 1995 and continues to be a showcase for new, emerging and established writers, while shining a light on the Hamilton literary community.  Reading is an activity of intimacy. The eye is directed to words on the page and a story unfolds from…
City Life

Hamilton broom-maker is weaving an ancient craft

Amy Lou Taylor is one of only about a half-dozen of professional broom-makers in Ontario. The first thing you notice when you walk into Amy Lou Taylor’s home is the peace and quiet. A hush falls over everything, except for the pot of chai tea bubbling merrily…
Arts + Culture

Hamilton just keeps ‘em laughing

A viral moment on Hamilton Beach is just the latest milestone in the city’s rich contributions to Canadian comedy. What started as a routine clean out of a house in Hamilton turned into a viral sensation – and unexpectedly brought renewed attention to a city already steeped…
Arts + Culture

REVIEW: Slice-of-life comedy fires on all cylinders

Theatre Burlington’s The Birds and the Bees does justice to a well-written script with strong acting, a great set, and clever sound design. As part of its “all-Canadian playbill,” Theatre Burlington has opened its season with playwright/actor Mark Crawford’s play The Birds and the Bees, which premiered…
Arts + Culture

Frankenstein comes to life

Binbrook Little Theatre delivers clever set design, lighting and costuming, along with some strong performances in Frankenstein: The Monster Play, the 1980 adaptation of Mary Shelley’s legendary novel. Onstage now until, fittingly, the day after Halloween, Binbrook Little Theatre presents Frankenstein: The Monster Play, a 1980 adaptation…
City Life

Good Shepherd: 25 years of harvesting hope

Good Shepherd’s annual fall gala raises critical funds for programs and services protecting and serving the most vulnerable in our city. The Good Shepherd Harvest Gala is a 25-year tradition in Hamilton, raising money for its  important work in protecting and supporting the most vulnerable in the city.