First-Ever Halifax Design Week Launches With Weekend of Workshops, Panels, and Art
The inaugural Halifax Design Week, organized by volunteers over four months, opened Friday at St. Mary’s University under the theme 'Past, Present, Possible.' The weekend event features free panels on sustainability, accessibility, and diversity across multiple city venues.
Halifax is hosting its first-ever Design Week, a new event for the city's creative industries that launched on Friday with an opening ceremony at the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre within St. Mary’s University. Organized by a small team of volunteers over a span of four months, the weekend-long program offers workshops, talks, and social gatherings under the theme "Past, Present, Possible." 
Friday's main event ran from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. and networking continuing until 6:30 p.m. The opening ceremony featured live music from Fiddle Vincent, pianist Harvey Beaton, and Nastassia Circus. Wesley Weatherbee, an anthropology lab tech and owner of ArchDev Solutions, delivered a special presentation during the proceedings.
Activities continued through Saturday and Sunday at several locations, including St. Mary’s University, The Loop on Barrington Street, and CoWork Halifax on Quinpool Road. Weekend panels primarily focused on sustainability, accessibility, and diversity and inclusion, providing networking opportunities for designers, artists, architects, and entrepreneurs.
Beyond panel discussions, the schedule included hands-on demonstrations and unique artistic showcases. Artist Liona Jollota conducted a project walkthrough at Kreative Knits, while Judith Orr performed a winter solstice watercolour demonstration at ArtPort. At the Argyle Fine Art gallery, an event called FEAST featured artists painting live using kitchen utensils. 
Tickets for most events, including the panels and demonstrations, were available for free via Eventbrite, though attendance at the Friday social required a purchase.