Maritime musicians attend non-alcoholic beer tasting event in Halifax

Maritime musicians and music industry professionals were gathered at the Alexander Keith’s Brewery in Halifax on Thursday night, but none of them will be waking up with a hangover the next day.

Music Nova Scotia has organized a non-alcoholic beer tasting event for artists and industry professionals as a way to bring people in the industry together.

“One of the things were trying to do at Music Nova Scotia is provide opportunity for folks to gather and experience a hang where alcohol is not part of the equation,” said Allegra Swanson, executive director for Music Nova Scotia.

“Whether you’re sober curious, whether you’re sober, whether you’re someone who just wants to intersperse a non-alcoholic beer with your regular drinking in the evening to make things a little more healthy, we wanted to provide a space to kind of try that and give people a chance to explore,” says Swanson.

The event was in partnership with an initiative by the East Coast Music Association called Pledge to Pause, which encouraged local musicians to put a pause on their alcohol consumption for January, a sentiment is echoed by some local artists.

The post from the East Coast Music Awards explaining the Pledge to Pause initiative. (Courtesy: East Coast Music Awards)“I’ve definitely seen alcohol affect my peers in the music industry, it’s affected me,” says local musician Nicole Ariana.

Ariana says alcohol and the industry seem to go hand-in-hand.

“We perform in bars at night, we got to conferences and conferences in any industry there tends to be a lot of smoozing and boozing,” she says.

Local artist Nicole Ariana sings into a microphone. (CTV/Katie Kelly)Clinical therapist and wellness lead for the ECMA, Erin Williams, says she has heard from many artists of how alcohol has impacted their lives.

“Sometimes feeling like they have to kind of bring the party, especially if they’re touring it can be a lot of dates where they are doing a lot of drinking, so it can be a really hard on them emotionally, physically, and mental health-wise,” says Williams.

With some help from Williams, Ariana is now a trainer peer supporter, and attended the event Thursday to help lead discussions. She hopes the message resonates with those attending.

“I think it’s just so important to talk about how it’s okay not to drink and just open the dialog. It’s a depressant, you know, so you don’t have to, and the more we talk about it the easier it will be,” says Ariana.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.