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Celebrating all things Hamilton / Welcome Message
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.


Arts + Culture

Reigniting theatre conversations in Hamilton

Stage Directions, a weekend of planning, networking and learning among theatre leaders, was last held in 2014 and the time was right, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic, to make it happen again, say organizers. Billed as the world’s friendliest audition, Monologue Slam was the closing act…
Arts + Culture

Theatre festival an act of representation, resistance

Red Beti’s Decolonise Your Ears New Play Reading Festival, happening this weekend, presents ‘stories that might not otherwise be heard,’ says founder. Red Beti Theatre is holding its fifth annual Decolonise Your Ears New Play Reading Festival at Theatre Aquarius in downtown Hamilton. The three-day festival will feature…
Arts + Culture

It’s 20 years for the Hamilton Film Festival

The annual celebration of local and independent films will screen 108 works this year, with at least 25 of them coming from filmmakers in Hamilton. Founder and co-director Nathan Fleet says you will ‘cleanse your cinematic palette’ and experience movies you would never otherwise see. The Hamilton Film…
Food + Drink

Barrel Heart Brewing’s recipe for a Michelin Bib Gourmand

Barrel Heart Brewing in Dundas serves an innovative and creative menu, backed by attention to high-quality ingredients and skilled preparation under the direction of chef Mitchell Gatschuff. It's one of two Hamilton-area restaurants —both in Dundss — to get Michelin recognition this year. Is the “recipe” for…
Arts + Culture

REVIEW: The Time Capsule is comedy with a beating heart

Theatre Aquarius’s opening show of its 52nd season brings together a talented cast and a funny script that celebrates Hamilton. It’s hilarious, it’s heartfelt, and it’s Hamilton. The Time Capsule at Theatre Aquarius brings together great performances, a sparkling script and deft directing to produce a night of…
Arts + Culture

REVIEW: True West is gripping and insistent

It’s impossible to look away from The Kitchen Sink Collective’s take on the Sam Shepard classic, on stage at The Staircase Theatre this weekend. A few performances remain for a production of American actor/playwright Sam Shepard's play True West, put on by Hamilton theatre company The Kitchen Sink…
Food + Drink

ON THE MENU: WHAT’S OPENED AND CLOSED ON THE LOCAL RESTAURANT SCENE

Here's a list of what has come, gone and changed in Hamilton and Burlington in September. Launched 2Maytea (518 Concession St., Hamilton) Now open on Concession in the spot that was last occupied by Akus Family Dining, serving banh mi, fruit tea and Vietnamese coffee.IG:…
Arts + Culture

Tales worth the Telling

Telling Tales, Hamilton’s children’s literary festival and the largest in Canada, is gearing up for its 17th year of imagination, storytelling, and storymaking this weekend. It will bring 60-plus acclaimed Canadian authors and illustrators, offerings readings, creative workshops, and book signings. There’s nothing quite like the vibe of…