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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…

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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.


City Life

PRIDE: 2SLGBTQIA+ mental health in Hamilton requires action, not words

Growing hostility is taking a toll and we must be vigilant and proactive at multiple levels to ensure everyone is safe and welcomed in our city. As a psychotherapist, I see firsthand how the growing hostility toward 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, both here and abroad, is taking a toll on…
City Life

PRIDE: Hamilton’s ultimate 2SLGBTQIA+ recreation and sports guide

There are many queer teams, leagues and groups for those seeking to be out and proud in the city. Hamiltonians can take pride in the surge of 2SLGBTQIA+ sports and outdoor activities now available year-round. Queer recreational athletes and outdoor enthusiasts – who frequently face barriers in sports…
City Life

Hamilton and The Big Build

The city is undergoing a massive transformation anchored by the light-rail transit line and that opportunity must be maximized. Hamilton is going through The Big Build, an unprecedented transformation involving billions of dollars of investment anchored along the upcoming light-rail transit route. This isn’t something that is going…
City Life

PRIDE Q+A: 49 questions with ‘The Bear Dan’ Anderson

A passionate community builder and event organizer, Daniel Anderson — better known in the scene as The Bear Dan — has been uniting the bear and queer communities through vibrant, inclusive events for over a decade. He launched his first bear party, Husky Bear Social, at The…
Arts + Culture

REVIEW: The Savannah Sipping Society is comfortingly familiar while telling a new and funny story

The Players’ Guild of Hamilton’s satisfying season-ending comedy brings together four women over 50 who are searching for friendships and new directions. The last production of the season for The Players’ Guild of Hamilton is The Savannah Sipping Society, a funny, well-paced, and satisfying comedy that brings together…
City Life

YHM to Where?

Where you can fly from Hamilton is always changing. Porter is now flying to four Canadian cities and the airport has just unveiled its renovations. Looking to travel more within Canada this year? Who isn’t? That just got a little easier for Hamilton residents, and fans of the…
Food + Drink

Local brewers are tackling tariffs one pint at a time

Hamilton and Burlington are home to thriving craft breweries that are taking on the U.S. trade war by doubling down on local. If there’s one Canadian industry that understands the importance of supporting local, it’s craft brewing.  For more than four decades since the days when Labatt…
City Life

PRIDE: Finding friends over Queer Coffee

The monthly social mixer in a downtown coffee house brews connections in the city’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community. At Queer Coffee Hamilton, the buzz comes from both the coffee and the conversations.   Queer Coffee is a monthly social mixer at Relay Coffee Roasters on King William Street that started in…