Trivia Night at The Frolic
2026-05-07 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-05-14 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-05-21 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-05-28 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-06-04 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-06-11 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-06-18 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-06-25 20:00 - 22:00 (America/Halifax) and 2 more dates | The Frolic’n Folk Pub & Grill, 4115 HWY 223, Iona, Nova Scotia, B2C 1A3, Canada
Come test your wits & win prizes!
3 Rounds – 12 general knowledge questions each round.
Play solo, or form a team. Funniest team name gets showered with accolades.
Hosted by your man – Ruarí Aonghas Lonce Murphy, every Thursday Night

The Back Pack
2026-05-08 20:00 - 22:00
The Back Pack is a band from Sydney, Nova Scotia, known for their incredibly smooth and funky sounds. The group uses live looping to seamlessly blend vocal harmonies with both real and synthesized instruments. The “pack” is full of Viktor Dugandzic, Jeff Shaw, Ed Woodsworth, and Steve Luxton. Their sets are marked by tight grooves that get people moving, and instrumentation that gets you grooving.
https://ionaheightsinn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TBP.mp4

Céilidh Matinee
2026-05-09 17:00 - 20:00, 2026-05-16 17:00 - 20:00, 2026-05-30 17:00 - 20:00, 2026-06-06 17:00 - 20:00, 2026-06-13 17:00 - 20:00, 2026-06-20 17:00 - 20:00, 2026-06-27 17:00 - 20:00, 2026-07-04 17:00 - 20:00
Get a taste of local celtic music & culture with our Saturday ceilidhs (kay-lee).
Expect to see world-renowned talent & budding entertainers from all over our native Cape Breton.
General admission seating $5 cover
First come first serve at the pub. No reservations. Minors allowed up until 10PM

Private Event Pub Closed
2026-05-23
Re-open Sunday

Cape Breton Celtic Trad Sessions
2026-05-24 16:30 - 19:30, 2026-05-31 16:30 - 19:30, 2026-06-07 16:30 - 19:30, 2026-06-14 16:30 - 19:30, 2026-06-21 16:30 - 19:30, 2026-06-28 16:30 - 19:30, 2026-07-05 16:30 - 19:30
Come and enjoy a casual gathering of musicians who have come together to play traditional Cape Breton celtic music.
Anyone is welcome to join in, or just sit back and enjoy the tunes.
Sundays at The Frolic 430 – 730pm
Full kitchen and bar service.
Minors allowed till 10pm

Mike McKenna Jr. w Dane Pedersen
2026-05-29 20:00 - 22:00
Singer-songwriter and Cape Bretoner Mike McKenna Jr. has become a compelling new voice in the North
American folk scene. With a raspy, soulful delivery and warm acoustic tones, his songs are anchored by
captivating storytelling and a deep connection to place. Born in the town of Glace Bay and raised along
the Mira River, McKenna’s songwriting aesthetic draws heavily from his small-town East Coast roots.
Blending folk, country, and Americana—he’s earned over one million global streams, shaping a sound
that is both timeless and unmistakably his own. His music has brought him to major festival stages like
Ottawa Bluesfest, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Vancouver Island MusicFest, Montreal’s Folk Fest sur le
Canal, Lunenburg Folk Harbour Fest, Reevestock and many more across the continent.
Over four studio albums, he’s brought forward the nostalgia of home through stories about life and death
in Nova Scotia’s coastal, working-class communities. His 2020 release ‘At The Edge of the World’ was the
winner of an East Coast Music Award, and was nominated at both the Canadian Folk Music Awards and
Music Nova Scotia Awards. Two songs from the album, High Ground and At the Edge of the World were
also semi-finalists at the International Song Competition, the world’s largest songwriting contest.
Mike’s 2024 Canadiana folk album ‘Smokey Mountain High’, produced by Quinn Bachand, has received
outstanding reviews since it’s November release, including features by Roots Music Canada, Canadian
Beats, SaltWire, V13, Tonic Grain, and many others. His first single ‘Grassfire’, cowritten with Nova
Scotia-born, Nashville-based Makayla Lynn Parry and touted by The Wild is Calling as “A brilliant piece of
recording art”, was as Semi-finalist in the 2025 American Songwriter Song Contest, and has been on
regular rotation internationally with both CBC Radio and Sirius XM’s ‘North Americana’.
“Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with and developing a wide range of Canadian
artists, including Sam Roberts, The Tragically Hip, Sarah McLachlan, Great Big Sea, Buck 65, Ashley
MacIsaac, and Tegan and Sara. Canada has consistently produced some of the most authentic and
influential voices in music, and I firmly believe Mike McKenna Jr. stands in that lineage.”
– Scott Graves, Head of A&R American Songwriter

Dane is a singer-songwriter and actor from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He has been performing since age 8, in a wide range of settings, from cafes to professional theatrical productions to folk festivals, such as the Stan Rogers Folk Festival and Celtic Colours International Festival. He is also a recent graduate of the Jazz Studies Program at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, NS. He now aims to blend the vibrant palette of his influences in service of his love of story and song.
Dane’s debut EP, Travelling Alone, a blend of heartfelt original songs and reverent reinterpretations of songs by his heroes, is now available. The project was made possible by the Big Sampie Award, given by the Celtic Colours Volunteer Festival Drive’ers Association and Lakewind Sound Studiosin support of rising Cape Breton folk music talent.

Garrett Mason
2026-06-06 20:00 - 22:00
Garrett Mason is a Juno and Maple Blues award winning artist from Truro, Nova scotia. Widely regarded as the greatest guitar player in Canada, Garrett’s one man show is a unique blend of blues, soul, funk, rock n roll, country, and psychedelic. It is one show you do not want to miss.

Maggie’s Wake
2026-07-01 20:00 - 22:00
Multiple award winning Maggie’s Wake is a mod-trad, female-fronted folk-celtic crew creating an exciting splash in the roots music scene. Showcasing a fiery fusion of Celtic tradition with roots swagger, expect driving jigs and reels, soaring whistles, double fiddle, flashes of country twang not to mention Cajun/global roots twists that’s pure joy from start to finish.
The acclaimed quartet came together in late 2022 and quickly took Ontario by storm — selling out dates on their very first “Spirit of the Season” holiday tour. Since then, they’ve showcased at major music industry events across Canada, the US and UK, have whirlwind 2026 & 2027 tours on the books, won the 2025 Canadian Folk Music Award (‘New Artist of the Year’) for their debut CD, launched a Holiday EP, and have a sophomore CD on the way… not bad for a band just a few years in!
United in their passion for triumphant tunes, soaring vocals and poignant storytelling, Maggie’s Wake embraces their wide ranging influences and have built an exciting, new sound. The band features award-winning songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tara Dunphy and award-winning violinist/fiddler/songwriter, Lindsay Schindler, backed by powerhouses Andrew Kosty on bass and Kenneth Palmer on guitar.
Their work is 100% original, penned by Tara and Lindsay, and their first single, Bridget O’Brien, won the NERFA Songwriting Award.
After their NERFA showcase, they were told that if Maggie’s Wake was a soup, it would be a hearty bowl of everyone’s favourite folk styles finished with a dash of Loretta Lynn and a pinch of Nick Lowe.
Doesn’t that sound delicious?!
Dale Watson, the Texas honky tonk legend, says “You can’t grow if you rip your roots out of the ground” and Maggie’s Wake have taken that to heart. They are honouring tradition while forging their own path in roots music.
