Esther Fest

09/14/2026

And the wait is over!!!

Here is the lineup for Esther Fest 2026. This is our biggest festival yet! And we still have a few more things to announce over the coming days. In addition to the return of old favourites like our Ghost Investigations, The Great Amherst Street Party, the Psychic Fair, The Witch Dance, and our Ghost Walks, this year we have:

- the screening of a new documentary about The Great Amherst Mystery
- a Victorian Seance
- a new play about Helen Creighton, the author of Bluenose Ghosts
- a pub crawl with Esther Cox
- a witchy dance lesson and more!!!

We couldn't possibly do this without all the help from Amherst Community Living and the Town of Amherst, NS! We also have an amazing group of volunteers who work behind the scenes every year to help make Esther Fest memorable. I'll name all of them in a future post! Thanks to Tim Fahey for the ghostly Esther Fest logo. And a special shout out goes to our webmaster David McClelland! Thanks for helping us make Esther Fest what it is!

Can't wait to get spooky with you next month!👻🎃

Click here for all the details:
https://greatamherstmystery.com/

09/13/2026

Here’s some original artwork created by Steve Scannell of Square Ghost Art for “The Great Amherst Haunting,” the new documentary about the Great Amherst Mystery from Makama Films, that will open Esther Fest this year.

https://www.instagram.com/square.ghost.art?stkn=MXhuaXNqNjRjM3NuZg==

09/12/2026

A LITTLE SATURDAY NIGHT VIEWING!

It's only two days until we announce the full lineup for Esther Fest 2026, but in the meantime you can watch all about The Great Amherst Mystery in this YouTube video. It's from a channel called "Eerie Edinburh," but hang in there past the first few minutes and you'll see the story moves across the Atlantic from Scotland to Nova Scotia (aka New Scotland) and then tells Esther's story.

Some of the images aren't quite right - Amherst looks like a fishing village - but the story is all there. And it's cool that a Scottish YouTube channel is talking about it as "Canada's most notorious poltergeist case." 👻

In 1878, in the small town of Amherst, Nova Scotia, a series of str...

09/10/2026

Our very popular Psychic Fair will of course return this year. The full details will be announced on Monday, but in the meantime, if you’ve ever wanted to develop your psychic abilities, you may be interested in this workshop from Hanlon, one of the psychics who appeared at our Fair last year. See below for more details…

Q***r Toronto Tarot

09/10/2026

Esther Fest Sneak Peek!

Our full lineup for Esther Fest 2026 will be announced on Monday, Sept. 14, but we’re thrilled to offer a sneak peek and share the exciting news that this year’s Festival will open with the screening of a new documentary about The Great Amherst Mystery at the Amherst Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.

"The Great Amherst Haunting" is a three part paranormal docu-series from Makama Films, a Nova Scotian production company focused on genre, documentary, and narrative storytelling. Created by filmmakers Mariah MacDonald and Ali Akbar Akbar Kamal, the series brings one of Canada’s most infamous hauntings to life through cinematic storytelling, historical research, and dramatic reenactments. "The Great Amherst Haunting" is available to stream on Bell FibeTV today, but you can watch it on the big screen at the opening night of Esther Fest 2026!

The film is approximately one hour long and will be followed by a Q&A with producer, Mariah MacDonald, and writer/director, Ali Akbar Akbar. The Q&A will be hosted by Esther Fest’s Executive Director, Charlie Rhindress.

Tickets are just $15 and will go on sale Monday, Sept. 14, when the full lineup of Esther Fest is announced at greatamherstmystery.com

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You can also watch The Great Amherst Haunting exclusively on Fibe TV1 — Channel 1, or stream it on the Fibe TV app.

https://aliant.bell.ca/Fibe-TV/Fibe-Programming-Packages

https://youtu.be/EfSjwFejOo8

Amherst Community Living

Coming to Bell FibeTV1 on September 10!

09/08/2026

We are finalizing plans for Esther Fest 2026 and will announce our full lineup on Monday, Sept. 14. We have a number of returning events as well as some new things we're very excited about. Be sure to check this page or visit us at...

https://greatamherstmystery.com/
..for all the details.

If you'd like to be added to our mailing list to make sure you don't miss anything please send a DM here or write to [email protected]

Can't wait to get spooky with you again this year! 👻

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYd3uP4bEfs

I made this video using stills from two productions of my play, "Gu...

08/10/2026

Public Meeting

We'll be having our second meeting to discuss plans for Esther Fest 2026 next Tuesday, August 18 at 7 at the CCUBIC, 5 Ratchford St. in Amherst.

We made a lot of progress at our first meeting and plans are coming together for our biggest Esther Fest yet. If you have ideas you'd like to share or you'd like to help out with some of the events we already have planned we'd love to see you!

We're looking forward to another spooky Esther Fest! Hope some of you can be part of it!

07/27/2026

LET'S TALK ABOUT ESTHER FEST 2026!

This is just a reminder that we'll be having our first public meeting about Esther Fest 2026 tomorrow night, Tuesday, July 28 at 7 p.m. at the Community Credit Union Business Innovation Centre at 5 Ratchford St. in Amherst.

The meeting is open to everyone: individuals and businesses alike! Hope to see some of you there! :)

P.S. The illustration below is from a story about Esther printed in 1878. There are no known photographs of Esther. There is one online that people often use in stories about Esther, but there is no indication that it is actually her. This is the only illustration I've ever seen that claims to be her. It was originally published in a newspaper in Halifax. I'm not sure whether the illustrator actually met Esther or just imagined her. - Charlie

07/21/2026

Edit: Please note I had written August 28 rather than July 28 by mistake. It is corrected now! Apologies!

………

Okay, we may not have coffee, but we'd love to get together with you and chat about Esther Fest 2026!

We're going to have our first public planning meeting of 2026 on Tuesday, July 28 at 7 p.m. at the Community Credit Union Business Innovation Centre at 5 Ratchford St. in Amherst.

I'd like to review last year, talk about plans for this year, and hear any ideas you might have. We're open to new events, working with local businesses to help promote their events, etc. etc. All ideas are welcome!

I'm very excited about some of our plans for this year and with your help I'm sure we can make this the best Esther Fest yet. Hopefully some of you can come out and help us get plans under way for spooky season! - Charlie

01/06/2026

I was so sorry to read of Darryl's passing earlier today. Darryl was the curator of the Cumberland County Museum in Amherst and a big supporter of Esther Fest. He made it possible for us to hold our Psychic Fair at the museum for the past three years and was always open to us conducting ghost investigations in the building. He was always generous, helpful, and supportive. On a personal note he even arranged for me to connect with some relatives from Florida who were visiting Amherst after I discovered our family connection through DNA. He will be greatly missed by so many in the community. Sending lots of love to his family and friends at this difficult time. - Charlie

Darryl Wayne MacKenzie – 63, Portapique. We are heartbroken to announce the death of Darryl Wayne MacKenzie (born Darryl Wayne Pickett) on Friday, January 2, 2026 at his ...