Arts & Culture

Arts and Culture is “alive and well” at the Top of the Island.  Various locations offer opportunities for interesting and educational experiences, either on a rainy day, on a “rest day”, or in the evening.

Here one finds the northernmost museum (www.northhighlandsmuseum.ca) supported and funded by the Nova Scotia Museum. At the North Highlands Community Museum, the history of the early Scottish highland settlers comes alive, through static displays and live interpreters.  Displays recounting the early local fishing industry, the war years and recently discovered shipwrecks all add up to an educational experience for all ages.

As well, the (open by appointment or by chance) “Little Red Schoolhouse” museum houses antiques artifacts from the Bay St. Lawrence area, as well an extensive collection of dolls from the area.  This, coupled with the stories and anecdotes recalled by the operator, paints a picture of the past that’s enchanting and informative.

Summertime live theatre thrives in the refurbished Cape North United Church, with productions written and performed by Cape Breton actors and writers.  (The 2006 production of “The Spirit of Aspy Bay” played to multiple “Sold Out” performances, with its success demanding additional stagings.)

Music at the Top of the Island takes various forms, from impromtu kitchen parties through Scottish ceileidhs to afternoon Chamber recitals.  Talent “runs in the blood” here, and visitors to the region get to see it first hand.*

Cape Breton arts and craft are well represented at the Top of the Island, with local working studios producing pottery, fiber and watercolors.  Additionally, the island’s largest collection of Cape Breton-produced juried arts and crafts is presented for retail in this area.

But these are only the “official” cultural experiences.  Much more important are the day to day contacts visitors enjoy with our residents…whale tour operators, fishers at the wharf, wait staff at the restaurants, outdoor activity providers, accommodations owners.  These encounters cement into memory the friendliness of northern Cape Bretoners, and explain once and for all why Cape Breton was voted “The World’s Second Friendliest Island” by readers of Conde Naste magazine.