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Celebrating all things Hamilton / Welcome Message
Arts + Culture

‘I’m an Anna through and through,’ says Frozen star

It’s a challenging role and a demanding run of 45 shows in 40 days, but Jessica Gallant feels she was born to play the awkward and intrepid younger sister in the musical adaptation of the Disney hit. Editor’s note: Check out our Instagram on Wednesday, Dec. 17…
City Life

Reason for the season: Where you can help those in need during the holidays

There are many worthy local organizations dedicated to ensuring every child, adult and senior can experience some joy and hope this season. Giving Tuesday on Dec. 2 is the perfect opportunity to donate.  It’s that time of year again, when our hearts are full with the magic…
Arts + Culture

Drury Lane’s Cinderella is a holiday treat

There is a lot to like about this Christmas pantomime. From zany slapstick to on-point choreography, this community showcase is fun for the whole family. A holiday tradition across the world, Cinderella pantomime shows have a lengthy tradition going back centuries. Featuring outlandish costumes and slapstick comedy while…
City Life

Deeply affordable 412 Barton opens

The $8.3-million project led by St. Matthew’s House will offer housing to 15 people facing homelessness, with a special focus on Black and Indigenous seniors and women. Two years ago, on another blustery December day, ground was officially broken at the site of a dream to house 15…
Food + Drink

The Iron Cow brings something that’s been missing to downtown

Part elevated British pub, and part sports bar, Matty Matheson-led eatery delivers with a creative and well-executed menu in a welcoming space. Holy Cow!  There is a new restaurant in town, part of the recently renovated and reopened TD Coliseum complex.  My dining experience as a media…
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. COTS – Disturbing Body & Moonlit Building Hamilton has long been fertile…
Arts + Culture

Hamilton Reads — KidLit Holiday Edition

From picture books about difficult subjects such as homelessness, and grief, to collections of letters and art by Indigenous voices, laugh-out loud read-alouds, and spine-tingling poems, there are many choices this holiday season for the young reader on your list. As a parent, you think you’re supposed…
Arts + Culture

REVIEW: Frozen is heartwarming and magical

You’ll laugh, you’ll cheer and you’ll be transported as Theatre Aquarius's production brilliantly brings animated Disney classic to the stage. Frozen, The Broadway Musical at Theatre Aquarius is pure magic. That is true in both the literal and the figurative senses. If you’ve ever wanted to escape…
Arts + Culture

INTO THE GROOVE

Take a step inside Hamilton’s vibrant independent record store scene, and be sure to check out these neighbourhood hotspots when buying for the music lover on your list. Hamilton is home to an active network of independent record stores, each offering a mix of…
Arts + Culture

Joni Mitchell, Nelly Furtado to be honoured at 2026 JUNO Awards

Hometown rockers Arkells will perform when Hamilton hosts Canada’s national music awards in March. The stars are beginning to align for Hamilton’s turn to host the 2026 JUNO Awards.  Hamilton legends Arkells will perform, pop superstar Nelly Furtado will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame,…
Arts + Culture

A bold new era for Hamilton’s downtown

TD Coliseum offers a world-class experience for artists and fans in a reimagined, music-first venue that no longer feels like an arena. What has changed inside and what will it mean for the city? The media tours are done. The ceremonial ribbon has been cut. And…
Arts + Culture

HAMILTON’S CELEBRATION OF SOUND

2026 will be a history-making year in the city’s music sector and will chart the course for an amplified future. Hamilton is a city of music and 2026 will be a history-making year that will give music lovers plenty of reasons to celebrate.   It all begins with the…
City Life

OPINION: York Boulevard is a grand vision gone wrong

Hamilton’s gateway entrance from the west was once to be modelled after great European streets. But instead of being the ‘Champs Elysee of North America,’ the City caved to private interests and what was built is the architectural horror story it is today. There is a nearly 50-year-old…
Arts + Culture

Hamilton music makers you should know

This city is a musical powerhouse. Here are a few local standouts sharing what they love about the place they call home. Killotine Photo: Rae Chatten Who: Metal band, represented Canada at Wacken Open Air 2025. Members: Matt Fraser (vocals and rhythm guitar), Jesse Luciani (lead guitar), James…
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)! Is there any better escape from the relentless news cycle, doom scrolling and polarizing politics, and any simpler way to…

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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.


Food + Drink

Brewing up the daily grind

A morning that begins at one of Hamilton’s wonderful coffee shops is a morning done right. Whether you are just looking to fuel up on your own with some java, yearning to chat with a friend over a hot (or cold) drink, or searching for that perfect work…
Arts + Culture

Hot blues come to Hamilton’s Smokestack Festival

Organizers Steve Strongman and Tim Potocic hope to make this an annual event. Hamilton is a music-loving community, brimming with talented musicians and avid fans. The weekend of May 26 saw the birth of a monumental new music extravaganza – the first-ever Smokestack Festival. It was a weekend of…
Made in Hamilton

Hamilton waterfront: A fear of heights

Opponents of a 45-storey tower on the Hamilton waterfront say it’s too tall. The fact is, it’s not tall enough, argues architect Bill Curran. The Hancock Tower in Chicago was the world’s first high-rise home built in 1969, with 700 apartments stretching up 100 floors. It remains a…
Arts + Culture

HAMILTON READS

Andrew F. Sullivan’s near-future horror story The Marigold tells of a city haunted by the dead. The Marigold is the story of a city eating itself.  Set in Toronto in the not-so-distant future, a sentient fungal mould, known as the Wet, has infiltrated the city’s infrastructure. Most cases…
Arts + Culture

One for All: It’s Your Festival

After a three-year pandemic pause, one of Ontario's largest Canada Day celebrations makes its return to Gage Park. Returning to Gage Park after a three-year absence is the venerable It’s Your Festival. Presented by the Hamilton Folk Arts Heritage Council, the three-day event held over the Canada Day…
Arts + Culture

Art in the everyday

Textile artist Amanda Rataj is intrigued by the enduring quality of fabric, combined with how it inevitably changes over time. Amanda Rataj brings a thoughtful spirit and a keen eye for light and shadow to a self-taught weaving practice that she has now been pursuing for over a…
City Life

We deserve to know why Hamilton LRT is so delayed

Ryan McGreal wants to know what, exactly, Metrolinx has been up to for the past two years. On May 13, 2021, the federal and Ontario governments jointly announced a $3.4-billion funding commitment to build and operate a new light rail transit (LRT) system in Hamilton. This milestone was…
Made in Hamilton

Mamaraderie builds a village for moms

Hamilton entrepreneurs create online platform for moms of all kinds to forge friendships, support networks and community. It takes a village to raise a child, the old adage goes, but where does one find a village these days? That’s where Mamaraderie (rhymes with camaraderie)…