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Venues across Nova Scotia are screening the Tragically Hip\u2019s last concert this weekend to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the emotional performance watched live by millions of Canadians.<\/p>\n
The band toured the country a final time in 2016 after lead singer Gord Downie announced he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Downie died the next year at the age of 53.<\/p>\n
While battling the disease, Downie and the Hip set out for 15 shows in 10 Canadian cities culminating in a concert in their hometown of Kingston, Ont. that was broadcast live on CBC radio, TV and online platforms. Approximately 11. 7 million people tuned in that night<\/a> with many large watch parties held in cities across the country, including Halifax<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople really came together to find joy in something that. You know, it could have been a very sad event, but the feeling at that time was so wonderful,\u201d said Charles MacKenzie, director of the Old Sydney Society, which is hosting a screening at the Sydney Museum. <\/p>\n On Saturday, dozens of venues across the country<\/a> will be re-airing the CBC broadcast The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration which features the hometown show in Kingston, Ont. on Aug. 20, 2016.<\/p>\n Screenings in Nova Scotia are also happening in Amherst, Brooklyn, Duncans Cove, Ketch Harbour, New Glasgow and Port Medway.<\/p>\n MacKenzie said he couldn\u2019t sign up fast enough when he found out venues could host official rebroadcasts of the concert.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Gord Downie was doing, you know, with his twilight time was really inspiring and I think organizations like Old City Society have a role to play in fostering that kind of community sentiment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u2018National moment of connection\u2019<\/p>\n McKenzie and other venue owners are hoping that screening the 2016 concert will bring people together like it did a decade ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just such a singular moment of almost like national anticipatory grief, but also solidarity and also just an outpouring of love and appreciation,\u201d said Audra Williams, who is hosting a screening at the Rosefinch Mercantile and Tea Room in Port Medway, N.S. which she owns with her husband Haritha Gnanaratna.<\/p>\n The Hip\u2019s farewell concert still resonates with Canadians because it featured many iconic moments like Downie calling out then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau<\/a> and the dying singer\u2019s emotional screams at the end of the group\u2019s most popular songs<\/a>, said Williams.<\/p>\n She and Gnanaratna moved to Port Medway four years ago and when they opened their store she said they made it their mission to create a welcoming environment where people could meet each other and build connections.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWith that mission statement of social connection, this seems like a perfect chance to do that because that was a national moment of connection,\u201d Williams said.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE TOP STORIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-600046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Charlies](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787304735_650_default.jpg\")
Charles MacKenzie, director of the Old Syndey Society, said in divisive times Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip are a symbol of what can unite Canadians. (Samuel Murrant\/CBC)<\/p>\n![\"Audra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787304736_73_default.jpg\")
Audra Williams and Haritha Gnanaratna own the Rosefinch Mercantile and Tea Room in Port Medway, N.S. (Sebastian Asprey\/CBC)<\/p>\n