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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

HAMILTON READS

Maxie Dara is now working on the second installment of her modern-day grim reaper tale that includes definite Hamilton vibes. Kathy Valence likes things boring and predictable. She’s mid-divorce, pregnant with her ex’s baby, and is terrified she doesn’t have what it takes to be a mom.
Made in Hamilton

The bees have it

Hamilton and Burlington are home to producers and entrepreneurs who are raising bees, collecting honey and wax, and then doing remarkable things with it. A few weeks ago, I came back from a weekend conference where I had done a bit too much talking, too much singing, and…
Arts + Culture

Rising above the noise

Auteur Research, recently acquired by Official Community, has provided a range of services to hundreds of established bands and up-and-coming musical acts to help them climb to the top of the algorithmic stew and get noticed. As the name implies, research is at the heart of it all.
Arts + Culture

INCITE FOUNDATION: Arts for all

The incite Foundation for the Arts supports the contributions and innovative work of the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts. The incite Foundation for the Arts has contributed more than $9 million to 50 Hamilton-area organizations, through grants from $2,500 to $300,000, since it was founded in 2011.
Arts + Culture

Emerging from eviction at Westinghouse HQ

A group of artists have found a new home in studio spaces at the Sanford Avenue North office building after being kicked out of their previous building. But the solution may only be temporary. Many Hamilton artists had grimly anticipated the hollowing-out of downtown creative spaces and unjust…
Arts + Culture

Shining a spotlight on gritLIT

Whether you love to read and talk about books, are a successful author, or are aspiring to publish your first work, Hamilton’s Readers and Writers Festival has something for you. gritLIT is an opportunity to not only celebrate great books and national and local authors, it’s a chance…
Food + Drink

Smashing burgers

The perfect hamburger is a matter guaranteed to raise great debate but Hamilton and Burlington sure have plenty of contenders. Whether you’re choosing thin and crispy burgers, or thick, juicy, and hard-to-fit-in-your-mouth burgers are more your style, the city is rife with burger options to satisfy your…
City Life

Squeeze-ing in pickleball

New club in Burlington is helping to satisfy the demand for a wildly popular sport. Pickleball has been exploding in growth across Canada, and is nearing 1.5 million players, according to Pickleball Canada. Women, in particular, have been flocking to the sport, with a recent increase of 50…