Celebrate the Common 250 – Media Release

for immediate release

September 24, 2013

Friends of Halifax Common Celebrate the Common’s  250th

(Halifax) On October 4, 5 & 6, Friends of Halifax Common invite the public to join in the free festivities to Celebrate the Common 250 and help mark the 250th anniversary of Canada’s oldest Common. Events at <https://www.halifaxcommon.ca/>www.halifaxcommon.ca are being updated daily.

In 1763, King George III gifted the 235-acre gift of the Halifax Common to the “inhabitants of the Town of Halifax as Common forever.” Numerous free public walks and talks, like October 4th’s “The Halifax Common: 250 Years of Community Use (cows, cricket, circuses, Catholics, Sir Paul and the skaters)” will explore the history and changing landscape of Canada’s oldest Common.

Many celebration activities are planned. Commissioned art installations like Fenn Martin and Tj Ediger’s Dead Falls and Ashley Bedet’s Rabbit Trap, and performances like DaPoPo Theatre’s The Poor House, and Mocean Dance’s Common Flock will connect the audience to the Common through themes of nature, community, safety, personal inspiration and fun. Other art installations and performances like Halifax Circus take place throughout the North, Central and South Common on Saturday October 5.

Inspired by FHC and published by Gaspereau Press, a book launch of the special 250th anniversary anthology of contemporary poems, Celebrate the Common, will be held on Sunday, October 6.  FHC will also launch a commemorative collection of archival images and contemporary photos by Alvin Comiter documenting 250 years of the Halifax Common.  A  public slideshow of these images, projected on the exterior wall of the Nova Scotia Museum next to Bell Road, is scheduled.

All activities including lectures, music, tours, art projects and sports and leisure activities; such as baseball, football, cricket, Nordic Pole Walking, Yoga, meditation, kite-flying and bicycle maintenance; are free to the public. And everyone is invited to bring a Picnic, food to share, or make a purchase at the Popup-Picnic-Potluck hosted by the Common Roots Urban Farm.

As of 5pm Sept. 24 daily schedule updates will be available at:  www.halifaxcommon.ca
-30-

For more information:
Peggy Cameron, friends@halifaxcommon.ca (t) 429-4372/902-258-3354
Keith McPhail, keith-mcphail@halifaxcommon.ca, 220-1967