The Evergreen Festival turns the Halifax waterfront into a winter village for four weekends: open-air wooden chalets of Nova Scotia makers, distillers and food stalls on Foundation Lot South behind the Waterfront Warehouse, a new Nova Scotia Loyal Vendor Village at the Sands at Salter with a different set of artisans each weekend, and the Salt Yard’s food vendors in between. Run by Build Nova Scotia, Discover Halifax and the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, it drew more than 120,000 visitors in 2025.
The free parts are the point. The Evergreen Express runs from the North Pole at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront to the festival, back again, and on a sightseeing loop around the boardwalk. The Winter Sports Zone has ball hockey and curling rinks with warming stations. Spruce’s Cocoa Trail stamps a passport for every holiday drink bought at participating downtown and Spring Garden Road cafés, with a prize draw at five stickers. And the light installations stretch beyond the waterfront to the Public Gardens, Peace & Friendship Park, Parade Square and Downtown Dartmouth, on their own clock every evening.
The market, train and sports zone open Thursday and Friday 4 – 9 PM, Saturday 11 AM – 9 PM and Sunday 11 AM – 7 PM, and are closed Monday to Wednesday. Bad weather pauses or cancels most activations; the festival posts the call on Instagram at @evergreenfestns.
Hours, every vendor by weekend, the lights, the free train and how to do it: our Evergreen Festival guide. Official festival site: discoverhalifaxns.com.
