A Place to Return To
When the Stadel family moved from Vancouver to Halifax, they assumed they were leaving something behind. Big festivals, big crowds, the kind of live music experiences that felt tied to larger cities.
They arrived just as the world was reopening after COVID, a time when gathering still felt uncertain, and shared experiences and connection had been missing for too long.
Their first TD Halifax Jazz Festival experience changed that.
Standing in the crowd, watching bands perform, they felt something click almost immediately.
“It felt like the happiest place on earth,” Brigette recalls.
After attending a second time, the feeling solidified. This wasn’t just something they had discovered, it was something they didn’t want to lose.
The crowd gathering for Goldie Boutilier at the 2025 TD Halifax Jazz Fest.
“We recognized pretty quickly that this was an event we would try really hard not to miss moving forward.”
At first, it was just the two of them, sometimes with friends. Then, last year, they brought their two teenage daughters. What stood out wasn’t just that the kids came along, it was that everyone was equally excited.
“Usually there’s one half that’s really into it and the other half that goes to be a good sport,” Brigette says. “This was one of the rare things where all four of us couldn’t wait to be there together.”
Watching their daughters take it in, the music, the crowd, the closeness, was a moment that stayed with them.
That sense of wonder wasn’t unique to newcomers. Gareth Evans recognized it when he brought his nine-year-old daughter to the festival for the first time.
Gareth and his daughter at the Main Stage barricade.
“Seeing a show front row with a nine-year-old is a felling that’s hard to describe,” Gareth says. “The performers feel larger than life to her and it didn’t hurt that she made a personal connection during the performance”
Gareth shared that the guitar pick from Goldie Boutilier's guitarist now hangs on her wall in a frame with her festival pass.
Standing at the front of the crowd together, his daughter beaming ear to ear, Gareth saw the festival differently, not just as a great night out, but as a moment she would carry with her.
“The scale of the festival is what stands out for me,” says Gareth. “The ambiance makes for an incredible evening and provides intimacy which isn’t easily achieved with the relevance of the artists performing.”
For both families, what sets the festival apart isn’t size, it’s intimacy. The ability to be close to the stage. To feel a part of something together. To dance, listen, and share the same moment instead of experiencing it alone through headphones.
“In a time where so many people listen to music on their own,” Brigette reflects, “there’s nothing better than being in a space where everyone is feeling the same thing together”.
Help keep the TD Halifax Jazz Festival a place where families can find connection, closeness, and moments that last.