What is a Heritage Fair All About?

The Nova Scotia Heritage Fair is a program designed for grade 4-9 students, allowing them to explore Canadian culture, history, and heritage and showcase their research at a public event. Fairs are held locally and regionally, and culminate in a provincial fair held in early June each year.

The Nova Scotia Provincial Heritage Fair is a two-day event that takes place at Saint Mary's in Halifax. Meals are provided for all student delegates, and residence-style accommodation is provided for students (plus one adult chaperone per student) from outside Halifax Regional Municipality. On the first night of the Provincial Fair, each student delegate (plus one parent/chaperone per student) is invited to a banquet also held at Saint Mary's.

School Boards/Regional Centres for Education in Nova Scotia are each eligible to send up to eight (8) student delegates in grades 4 - 9 to the Provincial Fair. These student delegates are selected at regional Heritage Fairs across the province.

Once at the Fair, students present their projects to expert judges (2 judges per project). The judges are all professionals active in the fields of culture, history and heritage - they are professors, archivists, librarians, museum curators, or museum interpreters.

Students also take part in a series of workshops related to the theme of the Provincial Heritage Fair, which is inspired by the yearly Heritage Day honoree. Workshops are for student delegates only.

At the end of the last day of the Provincial Fair, parents and the public are invited to view all the projects and attend the award ceremony and closing reception.