Esther Fest

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

07/21/2026

Jack Osbourne, son of Ozzy, recently featured The Great Amherst Mystery in an episode of his show, "Jack Osbourne's The Most Haunted." The link is below. It's almost spooky time! Enjoy! 👻

In this episode of Jack Osbourne's The Most Haunted, Jack explores ...

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 ...

01/01/2026

Happy New Year!

As we begin a new year we want to take a moment to thank all of you for your support of Esther Fest in 2025!

Last year's Esther Fest was our biggest yet. We had more events than ever before and for the first time we saw a lot of people making Amherst their Halloween destination. We had visitors coming from Halifax, Pictou, the Miramichi, Truro and more to spend the weekend in Amherst.

We want to send a huge thank you to our board members, volunteers, psychic readers, event organizers, local businesses who supported us, and all of you who came to our events! Esther Fest wouldn't be possible without you.

We have even bigger plans for 2026 and hope we can count on your continued support! Can't wait to get spooky with you again this Fall!