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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.


Food + Drink

Asian night market rolling into Bayfront Park

Come hungry and ready for fun in the sun or in the dark at Lucky Lion Night Market this weekend. More than 100 Asian-inspired food items, a DJ and bar, lion dancing, claw machines, merchants, workshops and crafts are all coming to Hamilton this weekend.  Since 2019, Hamilton’s…
City Life

Concrete Canvas: Painting the Town

Weekend-long mural painting event in August celebrates hip hop culture and street culture and leaves a colourful legacy across the city. Hamilton has long been a city of stories, but thanks to local artist Leon Robinson these stories are more plentiful, more varied, and certainly more colourful.
Food + Drink

Food on film: Hamilton featured in new docuseries

 Food is Me follows five of the city's eateries – Dear Grain Commissary, Tomah, Grain & Grit Co., Himalya and Maria’s Tortas Jalisco. Romantic comedies often contain a “meet-cute” scene of a couple’s first encounter. Kris Osborne and Nathan Sizemore have a terrific meet-cute story though the only…
Food + Drink

Getting the scoop: Don’t miss this local ice cream

The summer means we are definitely screaming for ice cream, so here is a list of some great options across Hamilton and Burlington that will satisfy your frozen cravings. When the sun is high in the sky and temperatures start climbing, what could be better than heading down…
Arts + Culture

Hamilton music scene: Women on fire

The city's music community is deep and diverse and full of incredibly talented women. Here, we shine a light on just a few of them. Melissa Marchese, Rita Chiarelli, Jude Johnson and Nabi Sue Berche share the joys and tribulations of making music while female. When This…
Arts + Culture

Stars of the strings

This city has produced more than its fair share of great guitarists over the years. Steve Strongman, Terra Lightfoot, Luke Bentham and Mike Trebilcock reflect on their careers with their six-string companions. Hamilton’s a rock ’n’ roll town. It’s a cliché, but it’s a cliché because it’s true.
City Life

For the love of Hamilton

This regular HAMILTON CITY Magazine feature will highlight people, from all walks of life, who have embraced Hamilton as their new home. Ryan McMahon, who is from the Couchiching First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory, was born in Fort Frances, Ont. and grew up in Thunder Bay. The oldest…
City Life

A home like no other

Supported housing provider Options for Independent Living and Development is a labour of life and love for mother and son Kathleen Ward and Michael Power. They are determined to fight for the future of their George Street family. Whenever developers come to poke around the connected stretch of…