Skip to main content

Festivals & Events

Here, music and laughter are always on tap. You’ll find it in our pubs and restaurants across our Island, as our friendly cheer and sense of community often brings everyone together. Explore the Island this summer and take part in local festivals, cèilidhs and events.

Festivals & Events 7

Featured Partners

View All Partners
A View from the Other Side

Dining, with a view from the other side!

Come and enjoy some of Sydney's best seafood dishes while watching the sunset light up the downtown skyline from the other side of Sydney's picturesque harbour.

Learn More
Camp Where Mountains Meet The Sea

Camp where mountains meet the sea

Visit Cape Breton Highland National Park’s newest walk-in campground, Mkwesaqtuk/Cap-Rouge. This cliff-side retreat is the perfect spot to launch your adventure, where the mountains meet the sea.

Learn More

Woodroad - A Cape Breton Culinary Experience

An intimate fine dining restaurant located in Margaree Harbour along the western coast of Cape Breton Island. Offering a set, 7-course menu that features seasonal and locally inspired dishes.

Learn More

An adventure a day at Cabot Shores Wilderness Resort

3 days, 2 nights accommodations in a large yurt or dome. Breakfast & dinner for 2 each day. Private hot tub access each evening.
Optional morning meditation & daily Qi Gong session.

Learn More
Lakeside Luxury Domes

Lakeside Luxury Domes

Situated on stunning Bras d’Or Lake on Cape Breton Island, we offer our guests striking views from every dome.

Experience comfort and extensive amenities, with a luxury glamping getaway experience.

Learn More
Live Life in

Margaree River Tubing

Take a break and relax on the world-famous Margaree River. Let the currents carry you downstream as you dip your toes in the river.

Learn More
North River Kayak Tours 4

Stay & Play at North River Kayak

Picture yourself gliding down the river in your kayak with eagles soaring high above. Picture a unique, hand crafted wilderness cabin with you sitting on the deck, coffee in hand gazing at the river.

Learn More

Mira Bay Vacation Getaway

Take it easy in this unique and tranquil three bedroom vacation home that is wheelchair accessible. Ideal location, offering a beautiful view of Mira Bay.

Learn More

Lantern Hill & Hollow

Steps away from the Atlantic Ocean stands Lantern Hill & Hollow, an enchanting beach house on a hill overlooking its own charming seaside village of beachfront cottages nestled in the hollow below.

Learn More

Orient Yourself to traditional Cape Breton Music Heritage


Join our Musical Walking Tour to explore Cape Breton's culture, music, and history. End with a live performance in our main room. Discover hidden gems and enjoy talented musicians!

Learn More
Dixon's Zodiac Seafari

Dixon's Zodiac Seafari

Join us and embark on a minimum two-hour adventure in search of different whale species such as fin, pilot, minke, humpbacks and others.

Learn More
Baile nan Gàidheal | Highland Village – Made of Stories – Experiential Tour 1

Made of Stories – Experiential Tour

Our living history site will take you through period buildings and four distinct eras. Costumed animators invite you to experience a piece of Gaelic history, language and culture first-hand.

Learn More
View All Partners

Upcoming Events

Showing 1 - 12 of 195
Loading posts based on filter

Learn to Square Dance and Step Dance

Next Date: Jul 3, 2025

Region: Canada’s Musical Coast

Community: Mabou

Come learn the Inverness County Square Set and some basic Cape Breton Step Dancing from Mabou-based dancer, Melody Cameron!  This ...

Learn More
A man and woman playing the fiddle at Governors Pub

Live Music

Like the routes, trails and waterways that bisect our Island, music connects our communities and cultures. Internationally renowned festivals. Weekly jam sessions. Time-honoured traditions and ancient rituals. Hear our spirit in each fiddle reel, bagpipe Biri and drum beat.

Find Your Tune

We encourage you to explore the many types of festivals & events
that our Island has to offer.

  • A man and woman playing the fiddle at Governors Pub

    Cèilidhs & Kitchen Parties

    It simply means social visit, but here, the Cèilidh is a perennial way of life. It’s a weekly family square dance. A community gathering full of food and music. Indulge in a kitchen party and connect with our culture and heritage. Feel the rhythm of our Island through the pulse of music and the warmth of our communities.  Your trip to our Island would not be complete with taking in a Cape Breton ceilidh or a kitchen party! Experience Celtic music like never before with one of these events and understand why we’ve been coined as Canada’s Musical Coast.

  • Festivals & Events

    Performing Arts & Culture

    Arts and culture don’t have an off-season here. From winter jam sessions along Canada’s Musical Coast to sizzling summer festivals and Acadian celebrations along the Cabot Trail. Enjoy music and comedy productions live and experience the rich art and culture that exists across the Island.

  • A woman plays guitar onstage

    Festivals

    History, heritage, community—there’s always a reason to celebrate on our Island. You won’t have to travel far to find a fun festival, but with so many options why not explore the Island?

  • Two pints of beer and a bowl of mussels

    Food & Drink

    Foodie heaven? More like a culinary cloud nine. The culinary scene on Cape Breton Island is truly unlike anything you have experienced and luckily, tasting your way around our Island has never been easier. Follow the Nova Scotia Chowder Trail to a famous lunch cèilidh. Plan your trip around a Highland lobster supper. Experience world-class shellfish, locally grown ingredients, and award-winning sips that connect our heritage to our land. 

  • Girls and boys in blue dance in front of a lighthouse

    Heritage

    Pay ode to the Island’s coal mining history with food, fun and festivities. Discover the roots of our Acadian communities by guided hike. Run head-on into history through a 300-year-old fortress. Our heritage is easy to learn, but even more, fun to live with each event.

  • aerial view of a festival in a green valley

    Community Events

    Over 100 communities. Hundreds of days a year to celebrate. From seasonal festivals and annual sporting tournaments to weekly dances, discover each pocket of our Island with our unique selection of community events.

Illustrated map of Cape Breton Island

Easy to Find. Hard to Leave.

There are direct flights to Sydney from Halifax, Toronto and Montreal and from other North American and European cities via those cities. If traveling by ground, the Trans-Canada Highway 104 leads to Cape Breton Island.

Getting Here and Around

Take a Picture. Leave your heart. #VisitCapeBreton