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
Private Cape Breton Sail Charters

Cape Breton Sailing Charters

Enjoy a private sailing tour for your party up to 6 people. Sail the boat yourself, have a lesson, or just kick back and relax. Half day, full day, sunset and multi-day cruises with captain and crew.

Learn More

Cape Breton Miners Museum – A day in the life of a Cape Breton coal miner

Take an immersive virtual mine tour through the last century of coal mining in Cape Breton. Then journey into the depths of the Ocean Deeps Colliery, a coal mine
located beneath the Museum building.

Learn More

Granville Green 30th Anniversary

2024 marks the 30th year of the Granville Green concert series in Port Hawkesbury! This free, family-friendly, alcohol-free event runs Sundays at 7pm from July 7 to August 11, showcasing local and Can

Learn More

An Experience of Art & History

Embrace the opportunity to have a historical and artistic experience by staying for a night at the vintage Royal Hotel established since 1895. 

Learn More

Sunset to Starlight: Nighttime Wonders at Cape Breton Highlands


Experience Cape Breton Highlands at dusk! Hike the Skyline Sunset, marvel at Stars on Mica Hill, enjoy a Lantern Walk at Freshwater Lake, and explore Seeing in the Dark at Warren Lake.

Learn More

Baddeck Lobster Suppers

Offering wonderful stories to share, and fresh local seafood to savor! Try locally fished hard shelled lobster, fire planked salmon, local snow crab or AAA strip loin steak.

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
KitchenFest! Féis a’ Chidsin!

KitchenFest! Féis a’ Chidsin!

Concerts & céilidhs, pub nights & square dances, celebrate beautiful Unama’ki/Cape Breton’s scenery, music, food, & people with this perfect summer season kick-off – one big island-wide kitchen party.

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

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
Keltic Quay Cottages & Lodge

Keltic Quay Cottages & Lodge

Relax at our 4½ star lakefront cottages! Enjoy free kayak, canoe and paddleboard rentals for ultimate lake adventures. Perfect getaway for water enthusiasts!

Learn More

White Glove Tour

Get an exclusive look into the lives of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell.

Learn More
View All Partners

Upcoming Events

Showing 1 - 12 of 33
Loading posts based on filter

Mabou Tuesday Night Ceilidhs

Next Date: Jul 1, 2025

Region: Canada’s Musical Coast

Community: Mabou

These ceilidhs will feature some of Cape Breton’s finest traditional musicians and step dancers. There will also be a guided Square Se...

Learn More

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