Highland Arts Theatre

Highland Arts Theatre, or “The HAT” as it’s affectionately called, is the name of a performance venue in downtown Sydney, Nova Scotia, formerly the home of St. Andrew’s Church. When the church was decommissioned in 2013, local musician and businessman Kevin Colford stepped up to transform the beloved historical building into a state of the art centre for arts and culture. The venue officially re-opened in June 2014 with an original musical comedy: “The Wakowski Brothers”. While the venue is available for rent and has hosted many of Cape Breton’s finest in the fields of music and dance, it is our mandate to create a reliable, professional theatrical presence in downtown Sydney, producing quality productions with a special emphasis on Cape Breton songs and stories. As of May 2019, the theatre has produced more than 60 homegrown productions of plays and musicals along with concerts, screenings, and special events. In June 2016, the HAT became a Professional Member of Theatre Nova Scotia.