Pictou Lobster Carnival

05/29/2026

If you purchased your Pictou Lobster Carnival 2026 weekend passes through the deCoste Centre website or phone lines you're halfway to a great deal of entertainment July 3rd to 5th!

If you live locally or will be passing near Pictou in the coming month, please make a reminder note to yourself to drop into the deCoste Performing Arts Centre box office at 99 Water Street in PIctou (in the new library). Box office hours are 10 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday (other than holidays) and also the box office is also open during their shows in the evenings. Just drop in and pickup your will-call advanced purchase order and you are all set for Lobster Carnival!

For those who cannot make it into the box office, we will have will call pickup of tickets in our office in the week before the event and via a lineup table outside of the grounds Friday night and at the entry booth throughout the weekend during active hours.

However, having your tickets ahead of time means you just need to lineup for entry and not wait as long to get in and the more who do this in advance, the better for all!

The deCoste Centre box office staff are ready and waiting for you to drop in and pickup your order!

05/29/2026

Volunteering is a great way to enjoy the carnival, and we need lots! Sign up today by emailing, or fill out the online form.

05/01/2026

The King Lobster Contest is back! Thanks to our sponsor Maritime Tractor Deadline for submissions is June 26th.

04/29/2026

04/29/2026

Join us next Saturday for our last pancake breakfast of the year. See you at the New Horizons! 🥞

04/22/2026

We have a limited number of lunches available for tomorrow for pick up only. Send a message to reserve yours today!

04/15/2026

In addition to Presenting Pictou! at the main stage on Saturday afternoon, head over to our second stage on the water at the Vendor Village Courtyard Stage again this year (27 Creighton St.). The stage features a tent with seating for you to enjoy!

The lineup of Pictou County and Nova Scotia artists is strong once again this year and Saturday will feature Nathan Gerrior, Andrew Gillis, Isabella Samson, and Nicholas Langille.

On Sunday, Brian & Friends will once again start the day at 10 am with gospel music, then Petra Moriarty, some great country music will follow with Hearts of Kin, and local duo 2Fold will close out Sunday's free music lineup at the waterfront.

Our schedules with detailed times will be posted soon on our web site and in the June program as well.

So many more announcements for the Pictou Lobster Carnival are to follow these music announcements of the last few weeks. See you at Carnival!

04/15/2026

It's time now to share one of our favourite parts of the Pictou Lobster Carnival, free for everyone music at our two stages for the weekend of July 3rd to 5th!

The Saturday afternoon tradition of free music at the Main Stage (71 Front St.) continues with a very special rendition in 2026: Presenting Pictou! We will feature three amazing Pictou singer/songwriter/performers starting with Ashley George at 12:30 pm on July 4th, Jud Gunning starting at 1:30 pm, and Spyder MacDonald to finish things off at 2:30 pm.

Although we've hosted all three of these men many times in the past, to have all three together representing three different generations of Pictou talent is something not to be missed!

04/15/2026

We are so excited to share the entire main stage lineup that weekend pass holders will be enjoying on July 3rd to 5th!

On Friday night things will start off with a great Pictou County band reunion with PYEDOG! The Town Heroes will follow them up and headliner Crash Test Dummies first time at Lobster Carnival will be an exciting one. Our very own Pictou town hero Albert Dunnewold will finish the night with Scott MacFarlane accompanying him in an always fun set of favourite cover songs!

On Saturday the night will begin with Leah & Kyle. Though they've performed many times in Pictou and around the county, this husband and wife team are stepping it up in 2026 and are always a crowd favorite here. Canadian hip-hop legend Maestro Fresh Wes will follow them up as direct support for a Pictou favourite, our Saturday headliner Classified! Finishing the night out right will be DJ Foxy (Gene Mills), spinning tunes and keeping people dancing until 1 am.

Sunday afternoon the music begins earlier with Ella Gunning Parker. Ella has had a number of songs on the East Coast countdown in the past year including two that reached #1! Get ready for some great fiddle music with Heather, Kenny & Haley following Ella. Next up is a great talent in Charlie A'Court playing his unique mix of country folk and blues! Sunday will wrap up strong with the already announced Pretty Archie followed by your Sunday headliner, Jimmy Rankin!

Thank you again to everyone who secured their weekend pass tickets and, for those still interested in attending, we have a small number of non-licensed (all ages) weekend passes available at this link: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36015/store/packages/146325

Stay tuned as we have many more announcements headed your way soon!