Nova Scotia Museums : What's On This Summer

Hello everyone,
Here’s some of the latest events from across the Nova Scotia Museums.

Museum of Natural History

Halifax, Nova Scotia
nature.museum.gov.ns.ca

Out of This World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television
Until August 26

Featuring more than 40 costumes and objects from science fiction films and TV programs, this exciting exhibition shows visitors how costume design uses colour, style, scale, materials, historical traditions, nature and cultural cues to help actors and audiences engage with the characters being portrayed.

Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

Halifax, Nova Scotia
maritime.museum.gov.ns.ca

Cable Ships: Connecting Halifax to Titanic and the World

This original exhibit, researched and developed by museum staff, explores the history of cable ships in Nova Scotia and highlights the significant roles of the Halifax-based ships Mackay-Bennett and Minia as part of the recovery operations following the sinking of RMS Titanic.
Cable Ships: Connecting Halifax to Titanic and the World also examines how cable ships contributed to the establishment of global communications; literally laying the foundation for trans-Atlantic wireless communication.

Ireland and Empire: In the footsteps of Columbus
Thursday, June 7, at 7 pm

Join Doctor Nini Rodgers of Queen’s University Belfast for a fascinating presentation about the history of Ireland’s efforts to draw advantages from the discovery and expansion in the new world.

World Oceans Day
Friday, June 8, 10 am – 3pm

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of World Oceans Day. In Halifax, this annual event has grown to become one of the largest and longest-running Oceans Day celebrations on the East Coast of North America. This year’s activities on the waterfront will feature lots of fun exhibits and interactive demonstrations about our oceans and marine diversity.
Halifax’s Oceans Day event is jointly organized by the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture, Waterfront Development and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Family Sunday
Sunday, June 10

Taking place the second Sunday of every month, the museum offers fun activities designed to entertain and educate families about maritime heritage. Please note that some activities have limited space. Registration takes place at 1 pm and activities begin at 1:30 pm. (Cost: Included with admission)

Uniacke Estate Museum Park

Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia
uniacke.museum.gov.ns.ca
Built in 1816 by prosperous Irish politician, Richard John Uniacke, this beautiful country mansion is easily one of the grandest homes in Nova Scotia. Inside, find the Uniackes’ treasured possessions like fine furniture and exquisite portraits. Outside, explore walking trails that feature unspoiled Nova Scotia woodland. Walks range from easy to challenging and trails offer plenty of recreational opportunities for people of all ages.

Ross Farm Museum

New Ross, Nova Scotia
rossfarm.museum.gov.ns.ca

Annual Pumpkin Planting
Saturday, June 2 and Sunday, June 3

Start your summer at Ross Farm’s annual pumpkin planting days! Plant a seed this weekend and return in the fall to harvest your very own pumpkin.

Father’s Day
Sunday, June 17, 2012

Enjoy cake, tea and free admission for Dad at the farm.

Tatting Demonstration
Saturday, June 23 and Sunday, June 24

Described as “threads lovingly shaped around air to create beautiful lace”, tatting was considered very fashionable for the upper classes during the 18th and 19th centuries. Visit Ross Farm this weekend and chat with our staff as they demonstrate the beautiful art of both needle and shuttle tatting.

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
fisheries.museum.gov.ns.ca

Open House and Ship Model Showcase
Sunday, June 10, 9:30 am – 5:50 pm

During the museum’s Annual Open House and Ship Model Showcase, members of the South Shore Ship Modellers Guild will display their latest projects and share their enthusiasm for the craft of ship modelling.  (Free)

Wile Carding Mill Museum

Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
cardingmill.museum.gov.ns.ca

Museum Day
Saturday, June 9

Celebrate the history and culture of this historic carding mill during an Open House. (Free)

Junkyard Boat Building
Sunday, June 17

This Father’s Day, build your own model boat and take it sailing on the pond. (Free)

Perkins House Museum

Liverpool, Nova Scotia
perkins.museum.gov.ns.ca
Every day for over 40 years, Simeon Perkins recorded details in his diary about life, family and business in Liverpool. Today, these entries provide a personal perspective of life in Nova Scotia from 1766 to 1812.
During your visit, enjoy a different kind of storytelling thanks to the museum’s interpretive audio visual projections.  Pick a tale from one of the memory boxes located throughout the house and be amazed as members of the Perkins household materialize before your eyes to tell you about life in a thriving Colonial town.

Ross-Thomson House & Museum

Shelburne, Nova Scotia
rossthomson.museum.gov.ns.ca
Travel back in time to discover 1780s Nova Scotia and the recently settled town of Shelburne. It is in this historic store that seasoned merchants George and Robert Ross carried on international trade in tea, coffee, rum, port and wine; offering both necessities and luxuries to the town’s residents.
Stroll the property’s gardens; step up to the store counter and ask the clerk about the kinds of goods the Ross Brothers once bartered and sold; spend some time inside the living quarters, furnished in the sparse, but elegant style of the period.

Dory Shop Museum

Shelburne, Nova Scotia
doryshop.museum.gov.ns.ca
Visit this harbour-side factory to discover the historic Shelburne Dory and the world of the Grand Banks fishery as it existed from 1880 to 1971. Easy to build and able to withstand the rugged ocean waves, dories were the backbone of the fishing industry, both in Nova Scotia and around the world.
One of Shelburne’s great claims to fame was the town’s rich dory-building traditions; a skill which still survives today thanks to the Dory Shop Museum.  Learn how the town’s dory-makers rivaled their Lunenburg competitors and witness the art of crafting these vessels first-hand.

Barrington Woolen Mill

Barrington, Nova Scotia
wollenmill.museum.gov.ns.ca
In the 1800s, the Barrington Woolen Mill was a local business that used machinery and water power to turn raw fleece into the yarn and cloth needed to make warm and durable clothing.  Powered by the mill’s rushing river, machines like the spinner, twister, skeiner and loom made it possible to wash, pick, card, spin, dye and weave wool in a fraction of the time it took to do by hand. Today, visitors can step inside the preserved mill to hear stories about the mill workers’ day to day lives and see demonstrations of handspinning, dyeing, and weaving of wool.

Old Meeting House Museum

Barrington, Nova Scotia
meetinghouse.museum.gov.ns.ca
For two centuries, people have gathered at the Old Meeting House. A National Historic Site, this New England-style meeting house is the oldest nonconformist house of worship in Canada and among the oldest in North America.  Built by Congregationalist fishermen and farmers from Cape Cod, called Planters, the meeting house was a building-in-progress for its first hundred years until the windows, doors, box pews and a pulpit were added by the mid-1800s.

Le Village Historique Acadien de la Nouvelle-Écosse

West Pubnico, Nova Scotia
acadianvillage.museum.gov.ns.ca

Rhubarb Festival
Thursday, June 7, 1:30 pm – 3 pm

Spend a spring afternoon enjoying mouth-watering rhubarb dishes and live entertainment.

Firefighters’ Museum

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
firefighters.museum.gov.ns.ca

Father’s Day
Sunday, June 17, 9 am – 5 pm

Bring your father to the museum on Father’s Day and you’ll both get free admission!

Family Fun Day
Saturday, June 30, 1 pm – 4 pm

Join us for our Annual Family Fun Day! There will be games, prizes, face painting and refreshments. (Free)

North Hills Museum

Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia
northhills.museum.gov.ns.ca
The exterior of this small farmhouse looks like a typical country home, but inside it boasts a collection of fine art and furnishings that create an air of Georgian elegance.  In 1964, Robert Patterson bought this house and made it a showplace for his impressive collection of antiques. Be charmed by the history and culture found in this unique home, nestled in the heart of one of North America’s most historic regions.

Prescott House Museum

Starrs Point, Nova Scotia
prescott.museum.gov.ns.ca

Tea at Three
Saturday, June 16, at 3 pm

In support of VON Annapolis Valley’s community work, put on your best hat and enjoy a traditional garden party.  Tickets can be purchased by calling 678-3415. (Cost: $45)

Haliburton House Museum

Windsor, Nova Scotia
haliburton.museum.gov.ns.ca

Plant Sale
Saturday, June 16, 10 am – noon

Get a deal while supporting the local food bank during the Haliburton House plant sale.

Shand House Museum

Windsor, Nova Scotia
shand.museum.gov.ns.ca

BOGO Museum Day
Sunday, June 10, 1 pm – 5 pm

Enjoy a visit to this beautiful home; free with paid admission to Haliburton House.

Lawrence House Museum

Maitland, Nova Scotia
lawrence.museum.gov.ns.ca

In 1874, William D. Lawrence secured his place in marine history by constructing the largest wooden-hulled, fully-rigged ship ever built in Canada. Come explore his bright Victorian home and its 23 rooms, featuring photographs, exhibits and the Lawrence family’s heirlooms. Discover the era of shipbuilding, as well as tales of the Golden Age of Sail in Maitland, Nova Scotia’s first designated Heritage Conservation District.

Fundy Geological Museum

Parrsboro, Nova Scotia
fundygeo.museum.gov.ns.ca

Curatorial Walks
Fridays and Saturdays

Discover the area’s rich geological past and natural heritage on these guided walks. Tours depart from the museum and last 3 – 5 hours.  Start times vary due to the tides. Free with museum admission or with membership to the Cumberland Geological Society. Visit the museum’s website for requirements.

Balmoral Grist Mill

Balmoral Mills, Nova Scotia
gristmill.museum.gov.ns.ca
Due to construction, please call the mill (902-657-3016) or consult the website prior to visiting to confirm that the museum is open.
Discover Balmoral Grist Mill Museum, a three-storey mill tucked away in a wooded gorge on Matheson’s Brook.  See the mill in action, just as it would have been when Alexander McKay opened it in 1874. Hear the whir of wooden gears as shafts and pulleys turn the original Scottish granite millstones. Watch as grains are ground, sifted and turned into flour.  Sample the flavour of oats toasted on the cast iron floor of the kiln. Treat yourself to the experience of a waterside grist mill from Nova Scotia’s past.

Sutherland Steam Mill

Denmark, Nova Scotia
steammill.museum.gov.ns.ca

Schools Out
Friday, June 29, 1 pm – 3 pm

Celebrate the end of the school year at the mill.  Build a gingerbread house; go on a scavenger hunt; play quoits or croquet; and win prizes.

Museum of Industry

Stellarton, Nova Scotia
industry.museum.gov.ns.ca - visit our new website!

Give it a Toss
Saturday, June 16, 1 pm

Join us for toss and throw games on the museum lawn.  Kids and adults can play horseshoes, washers, lawn darts, and quoits – the coal miner’s game of strength and accuracy.

McCulloch House Museum

Pictou, Nova Scotia
mcculloch.museum.gov.ns.ca
Beginning in 1773, hundreds of ships carrying thousands of Scottish immigrants began arriving at Pictou Harbour. One man, Dr. Thomas McCulloch, came ashore in 1803 and soon found himself leading a monumental change in the lives of 19th-century Nova Scotians.
Come visit this 200-year-old brick home where McCulloch and his wife, Isabella, raised their family.  Explore the interactive exhibit that details how one man’s passion launched a journey to create public education in the province.

Highland Village Museum

Iona, Nova Scotia
highlandvillage.museum.gov.ns.ca - visit our new website!

Chun A’ Rubha (A Gaelic Tour)
Saturday, June 2, 1 pm – 4 pm

Come for Chun A’ Rubha, a Gaelic tour and caidreabh tì with Jim Watson, Carmen MacArthur, Mary Jane Lamond and native Gaelic speakers. Seumas Watson will lead a tour of the village, which will be followed by a gathering for tea, stories and songs. This is an immersion event hosted entirely in Gaelic. Space is limited and pre-registration is required.

Cash's Carding Mill Day
Saturday, June 9

Join us for a special day celebrating wool and Cash’s Carding Mill. At 11 am, Sarah Nettleton will give a lecture and sheep shearing demonstration. Charlie Cash, who donated the village’s carding equipment, will speak about his family’s operation in Irish Cove.

Cossit House Museum

Sydney, Nova Scotia
cossit.museum.gov.ns.ca
Visit this historic home to discover how a controversial Loyalist Anglican minister and his wife started a new life in the capital of a growing British colony.
Get to know Rev. Ranna Cossit and his wife, Thankful, who raised their family of ten children in this modest New England-style house. Chat with costumed guides and take part in daily activities of the 1700s, like stitching a sampler or churning butter. Come explore one of the oldest homes in Sydney.

Sherbrooke Village

Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia
sherbrookevillage.museum.gov.ns.ca

Road to Stanfest Songwriters' Camp
Monday, June 25 – Thursday, June 28

Come to the shores of the beautiful St. Mary’s River to inspire your imagination and your songwriting skills. As part of the camp, studentx will have the chance to compete for a special performance spot at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival. To register, call 1-888-743-7845 or visit Music Camps on our website.

Courthouse Concert Series
Thursday, June 28, at 7:30 pm

Each summer, the village hosts its annual concert series in the historic Sherbrooke Courthouse. This year’s musical lineup will include Country, Folk and Celtic music. For a complete concert schedule, visit the Sherbrooke Village website. (Cost: $8 at the door)  

Fisherman’s Life Museum

Jeddore Oyster Pond, Nova Scotia
fishermanslife.museum.gov.ns.ca

Rhubarb a Plenty
June 9 – 16

Drop by for a taste of different rhubarb treat every day during this week.