SeaLight SkyLight: The Winter Solstice Edition

Illustrated poster for SeaLight SkyLight Solstice festival featuring an owl and flowing ocean imagery.

Saturday, December 20, 2025 | 1:30 PM – 10:00 PM

SeaLight SkyLight is a celebration of science, creative arts, and the natural world, inspired by Ship Harbour’s spectacular dark night sky and the magic of ocean bioluminescence.

This annual, family-friendly festival brings together live music, astronomy and art workshops, environmental displays, and a candle-lit procession to the waterfront for performances — and, fingers crossed, a glimpse of glowing waters beneath the stars.


 What to Expect

  • Live music and creative performances

  • Astronomy activities and night-time telescope observation

  • Art and science workshops for all ages

  • Environmental displays and hands-on learning

  • A candle-lit procession to the waterfront after dark

  • Guided opportunities to experience the Peace Pavilion


The Peace Pavilion

Throughout the day, visitors are invited on short guided walks to the Peace Pavilion in the Deanery woods — a quiet space for reflection and connection that has become part of the Deanery’s evolving peace-centered programming.

These gentle pauses offer moments of stillness alongside the celebration, inviting peace to walk alongside curiosity, creativity, and community.
(You can link the words “Peace Pavilion” here to the page you just created.)


Food & Accessibility

Noor’s Mediterranean Restaurant will be on site with delicious food available for purchase from 1:30 PM – 7:00 PM.

SeaLight SkyLight is an alcohol- and drug-free event.

The majority of festival activities will take place indoors, with the exception of:

  • Guided walks to the Peace Pavilion

  • Outdoor field activities

  • Night-time telescope observation

  • The candle-lit waterfront procession

Please dress warmly and be prepared for outdoor movement.
This is a rain-or-shine event.


Stay Connected

A detailed schedule will be shared closer to the event date.
Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and our website for updates.

You can download a PDF of the poster here.


Tickets

Tickets can be purchased through the Google registration link here.

Lifting Peace Off the Ground: Community Art at MSVU

Left image: A poster featuring peace activist Muriel Duckworth with text describing her 1983 visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and a survivor’s account of birds and butterflies falling from the sky with their wings on fire. A small black-and-white photo of Muriel Duckworth appears below the text, alongside simple butterfly illustrations and a red “no nuclear weapons” symbol over an explosion graphic. Right image: An older woman sits beside a bed covered with a large textile human shadow figure. The shadow is being decorated with many colourful handmade butterflies in felt, fabric, and embroidery as part of a community art project.

You’re invited to celebrate community creativity at the Annual Mount Community Show at MSVU.

Opening Reception

  • Date: Thursday, December 11

  • Time: 12:00 noon

  • Location: MSVU Main Gallery

The reception is a casual, drop-in event and refreshments will be served.

Members of NSVOW and the Raging Grannies will be there, sharing our Nocturne installation commemorating the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

“Lifting Peace Off the Ground”

We’re inviting the whole community to help grow this piece by contributing handmade textile butterflies to cover a life-sized human shadow figure in the gallery.

Please also visit our website at nsvow.org to learn more about our work for peace and justice.


About Lifting Peace Off the Ground

Lifting Peace Off the Ground was inspired by peace activist Muriel Duckworth.

We are all living under the ongoing threat of nuclear mass destruction. Together, we can urge our governments to pick up the frayed thread of nuclear diplomacy, rather than tighten the noose of new weapons projects.

In this piece:

  • A human shadow on the floor represents the terrifying horror and suffering experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where human lives were incinerated.

  • Butterflies represent transformation and beauty — both are needed to rewrite the story toward peaceful solutions to conflict around the world.

We hope to cover the entire shadow in butterflies made by community members and friends near and far.

How to participate

We welcome butterflies that are:

  • Made from any textile: scraps of cloth, embroidery, felting, quilting, patchwork, fabric paint, etc.

  • Maximum size: 8 cm x 8 cm (we’re flexible, but small is helpful!)

If you’d like to contribute a butterfly or a batch of butterflies, please email:
📧 winkler.kathrin2@gmail.com for more information.

Many thanks to:

  • Fatima and the Muslim Women’s Study group for the beautiful crocheted white poppies

  • Firhana in Newfoundland for the gorgeous felted butterfly pockets

  • Thousand Harbours Zen – 千湊寺 for the connection to Nora, who created the human shadow

  • And to all who have already stitched, folded, felted, and dreamed peace with us.

War Mongers Out of Halifax: A Community Call for Peace

Poster for an anti-war protest in Halifax. It includes three images: the Westin Nova Scotian building by the waterfront, a collage of international flags, and naval ships docked in Halifax Harbour. The text announces a demonstration against the Halifax Security Forum.

Every November, Halifax becomes the backdrop for conversations about global security — but not all of those conversations reflect our commitments to peace, safety, or the dignity of communities affected by war. This year, community members from across Mi’kma’ki are gathering to say clearly: No Peace, No Safety with the Halifax Security Forum.

The Halifax Security Forum brings military leaders, political figures, and defence contractors into our city each year. For many residents, this gathering doesn’t represent “security” — it represents the normalization of global militarization and the ongoing harm caused by war, occupation, and escalating violence around the world.

Halifax has a deep history of peace work, grassroots organizing, and standing in solidarity with people resisting oppression. From our local Peace & Friendship Treaties to ongoing mobilizations connected to global justice movements, Nova Scotians know that real safety is rooted in community care, diplomacy, accountability, and demilitarization.

A Community Gathering for Peace

On Saturday, November 22nd, people will gather at Peace & Friendship Park from 2:00pm to 4:00pm to stand together for a different vision of security — one grounded in peace, equity, and international solidarity.

This action brings together voices from across the region who are calling for:

  • An end to the glorification of war and military intervention

  • A shift toward peace-building, humanitarian action, and conflict de-escalation

  • Accountability for the global impacts of Canadian foreign policy

  • A Halifax that reflects its commitments to justice, not militarization

This gathering is open to everyone who envisions a future beyond war — a Halifax where safety does not depend on violence, and where we refuse to normalize the harm caused to communities here and abroad.

Why It Matters

War does not keep people safe. Militarized responses deepen instability, displace families, and harm those already most vulnerable. By showing up together, we send a collective message that our city does not belong to the agendas of war profiteers or global powers seeking to strengthen military alliances at the expense of human lives.

Halifax is a community of care — we know this, because we see it in our neighbourhoods, our movements, our mutual aid, and our commitments to justice across generations. This is another moment to make that care visible.

Event Details

📍 Peace & Friendship Park, Kjipuktuk/Halifax
📅 Saturday, November 22nd
2:00pm – 4:00pm

All are welcome. Bring signs, bring friends, bring your hope for a more peaceful world.

Palestinian Land Exercise – A Free Community Learning Event

A poster for a free community event titled “Palestinian Land Exercise.” It includes event details, a small white dove illustration near the top, and a Palestinian flag illustration near the bottom.

Palestinian Land Exercise – A Free Community Learning Event

The Just Peace Working Group are inviting community members to a meaningful and participatory learning experience on Sunday, November 23rd, from 1:00–3:00 pm in the Community Room of the Bus Stop Theatre, located at 2203 Gottingen Street, Halifax.

This Palestinian Land Exercise, facilitated by the Just Peace Working Group, offers an opportunity to explore the complex history of Palestine/Israel through a human-centred lens. Together, we will walk through some of the major events that have shaped the region since the late 19th century and reflect on their impact on the people who continue to be affected today.

This session is designed to be thoughtful, grounded, and interactive—an invitation to learn, listen, and engage in peaceful dialogue with others in our community.

Event Details

  • Date: Sunday, November 23rd

  • Time: 1:00–3:00 pm

  • Location: Bus Stop Theatre, Community Room
    2203 Gottingen Street, Halifax

  • Facilitator: Just Peace Working Group

  • Cost: Free

  • Registration: Required — please email jpwg2023@gmail.com

Spots are limited, so we encourage you to register early.

Whether you’re new to this subject or deepening your understanding, this learning opportunity offers a supportive space to explore history, ask questions, and participate in a shared commitment to peace and justice.

Shoulder to Shoulder: We Are All Treaty People — Rally in Kjipuktuk/Halifax

Promotional graphic for the “Shoulder to Shoulder: We Are All Treaty People” rally on November 15 at 12 p.m. at the Halifax Commons, Robie and Cogswell. Includes a photo of a land defender camp with a tipi, stacked logs, and an orange flag.

Shoulder to Shoulder: We Are All Treaty People — Rally in Kjipuktuk/Halifax
Saturday, November 15th, 12 noon —Halifax Commons

Shoulder to Shoulder: We Are All Treaty People — Rally in Kjipuktuk/Halifax

Communities across Mi’kma’ki are gathering on Saturday, November 15 at 12 p.m. for a rally on the Halifax Commons (Robie & Cogswell). The event brings people together in support of land and water protectors, including those at Tqamuoweye’katik (Hunter’s Mountain) and other sites where communities are raising concerns about environmental destruction.

This rally centres on a simple truth: Treaty relationships carry responsibilities for all of us. These responsibilities ask us to show up, to protect the places that sustain life, and to ensure that community voices are heard when decisions impact our shared future.

Participants are invited to bring banners, signs, flags, regalia, drums, songs, and prayers as we stand with neighbours, Elders, youth, and families from across Mi’kma’ki.

NSVOW stands in solidarity with all who work for peace, justice, and the protection of land and water.
We encourage our members, friends, and allies to join and show support in whatever way feels right for them.