EMERGEHFX All Ages Festival and Conference is an annual multi-day festival featuring and engaging Halifax’s newest artists, songwriters and performers. EMERGEHFX also presents special programming throughout the year in conjunction with other major festivals in Halifax.

The festival features artists under 19 and others often under-represented in main stream music industries in Nova Scotia.

EMERGEHFX was created in partnership in 2016 by Youth Art Connection, the Halifax Pop Explosion and the Pavilion Youth Association to address the under-representation of new and emerging talent from the local arts scene.

In particular, artists under 19 have limited opportunities to perform, network and engage in professional arts activities due to the high number of performances that take place in licensed venues from which they are prohibited.

Additional systemic barriers increase the challenge for young artists from diverse backgrounds to access the same opportunities as their older and supported counterparts.

In order to ensure that ALL of Nova Scotia’s best talent has the opportunities to present their art and grow their professional artistic careers, YAC continues to expand EMERGEHFX and engage more of the best local talent, and continues to partner with large mainstream festivals to ensure our talent accesses stages and audiences their talent merits.