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Celebrating all things Hamilton / Welcome Message
City Life

PRIDE: Kenadie, how do you shake off judgment?

Welcome to the first 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…
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…
Arts + Culture

THE PLAYLIST

Born Ruffians – Beauty’s Pride For a band that once felt like it might combust from sheer nervous energy and mileage logged, Born Ruffians have aged in a surprisingly graceful, and still charmingly unpredictable way. Beauty’s Pride finds the long-running Toronto/Hamilton group loosening their grip on that early, jittery urgency…
Made in Hamilton

OPINION: Election 2026 is the time to build

The last municipal election saw just over 35 per cent of eligible Hamiltonians vote. We must do better this time because this city needs to deliver on its potential.  October 2026 will define Hamilton’s next chapter. We are entering a municipal election that will shape how our…
City Life

7 2SLGBTQIA+ leaders you should know

In honour of Pride in June, we asked inspiring local advocates and community leaders about their work, why marking Pride matters, what needs to change at the local level, and their greatest wish for the communities they serve. These are just seven Hamiltonians who champion 2SLGBTIA+ people locally.
Arts + Culture

Silverstein never stands still

Twenty-six years,13 albums, and a million records sold later, and the Burlington-born hardcore/punk band continues to defy the odds. Silverstein began making music during a fertile period in heavy guitar rock. The turn of the millennium saw guitar rock genres splinter into even more subgenres as bands borrowed…
Arts + Culture

PRIDE: Queer and crafting in Hamilton

QUARTZ: Queer Art Hang at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and Queer Craft Club at Hamilton Craft Studios offers an oulet for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to gather and create. If you are queer and into crafting, you have two options to let your creative flag fly and…
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 May. Launched & opening soon Chubby Tiger (2016 Victoria Ave., Burlington) Early reviewers have described the cuisine at Chubby Tiger as reminiscent of food court Canadian Chinese fare, with…
Arts + Culture

Cadence Weapon wants you to stop scrolling and start listening

Rollie Pemberton, aka Cadence Weapon, is done with treating music as background filler. In his new book Ways of Listening, the Hamilton rapper explores the transition from record bins to algorithms and reimagines how we can reclaim a deep connection with music in the age of streaming. When…
Arts + Culture

For Spoons, ‘Old Emotions’ are new again

Burlington band that had a string of hits in the 1980s, is releasing a new album and taking on a new musical sound. By Jenna Yeomans and Stephen Metelsky  Nov. 1, 2025. The bottom of the 11th inning of the World Series at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. The Jays…
Arts + Culture

incite: Delivering on a mission

Since the incite Foundation for the Arts was formed in 2011, it has donated $11 million to local arts organizations. On its 15th anniversary, the incite Foundation for the Arts is reaffirming its mission to revolutionize support for the arts in the greater Hamilton community.  incite strives to…
Food + Drink

Delicious and Indigenous

There are a growing number of notable food options in Six Nations, along with a beloved Indigenous-owned diner in Hamilton. Six Nations & Beyond  Just south of the city, not far from the edges of Hamilton, is the community of Six Nations. With a whole variety of…
Arts + Culture

Hamilton’s music scene: What is and what could be

Music writer Dylan Hudecki asked Hamilton’s music insiders for their opinions about how to keep the local music scene thriving and reinventing itself. Think of it as a suggestion box to turn up the volume on Hamilton. Hamilton’s music scene continues to thrive as one of Canada’s most…
Food + Drink

DINING DISTRICTS: A Locke on food

This interesting west Hamilton street is ever-evolving, with newcomers joining long-time eateries to make for a true foodie destination. On the whole, my visits to Locke Street have all been linked to food. It must be said that I can think of over a dozen eateries that closed…
City Life

CITY VIEW: A Hamilton storyteller

Annette Hamm is about to retire after being part of the CHCH News team since 1986. We talked to her about her career and what Hamilton means to her. ANNETTE HAMM is retiring next month after a 40-year career at CHCH. She's spent the last 21 of those…

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

Music continues to be protest for Kojo Damptey

Afro-soul musician, music producer, songwriter, keyboardist and composer is releasing his third album tomorrow. For Hamiltonian Kojo “Easy” Damptey, political activism and musical expression go hand in hand. You may know Kojo (everybody in the city calls him by his first name) from his full-time anti-racism work in…
City Life

Focusing on humanity

Human Beings of Hamilton shines a powerful spotlight on those living on the streets of the city. The man behind the Facebook page has walked that road himself. Human Beings of Hamilton started as a Facebook page, sharing photography taken over…
City Life

For the Love of Hamilton

This regular feature will highlight people from all walks of life who have embraced Hamilton as their new home. Kayla Whitney is from Chatham, Ont. She attended OCAD University in Toronto and opened Koe Design, a commercial arts studio offering illustration, design and mural services, in 2017.
City Life

Paddling in Hamilton: Late summer and fall are great times to get out on the water

The city has some amazing canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding opportunities that are accessible for beginners and give a view of the city you might not have seen before. This fall, if you find yourself driving from Dundas to Hamilton along Cootes Drive, keep your eyes open. You…
Arts + Culture

B.A. Johnston: ‘Failed showman on the skids’

Hamilton's dive-bar hero has made a career out of not taking himself too seriously. Dive-bar hero. Comic-genius with no formal training. From a high-school slacker to a persona perfected over 20 years, B.A. Johnston epitomizes the DIY spirit and the art of not taking yourself too seriously. Case…
Arts + Culture

Crafting a creative hub

Hamilton Craft Studios offers an affordable and fun space to artists, along with woodworking, textiles and ceramics classes, in a sprawling former 1920s-era wire factory. Dayna Gedney and Joseph Bauman tripped over the former wire factory at 121 Princess St. during an online property search.
Arts + Culture

HAMILTON READS

Hamilton is the ‘beating heart’ of Pebble & Dove, the moving new novel by Amy Jones. There’s an inside joke in Amy Jones’s family that she’s jinxed when it comes to spotting wildlife.  “My parents will go out in the boat and see dolphins and whales and sea…
City Life

Grey Cup Festival: ‘Excitement runs deep’

Six days of events include a James Street North festival, kids road race, the Hamilton Santa Claus Parade, YWCA luncheon, neighbourhood block party and a day off from school. A street festival on James Street North, a kids-only road race, a mini Tim Hortons Field inside the downtown…