It Started With a Lobster Dinner. Now It's an East Coast Institution - CBC

Thousands of fans watched the sun melt into a Nova Scotia cove as rocker Matt Mays prepared to play the first outdoor festival set at The Shore Club, a venue that has endured for 90 years just outside the tiny community of Hubbards, CBC reported.

For more than eight decades, the family-run business has served classic lobster suppers alongside live music to visitors from across the globe. After performing inside the wooden building every summer for decades, Mays admitted he initially wondered if the venue’s distinctive atmosphere would translate to an outdoor stage.

“It’s one of those places on earth that all the vibes are,” Mays said in a new CBC documentary about the club. “It’s a very spiritual event for myself … and if it’s spiritual, that means it’s just bigger than anything.”

The outdoor concerts mark a fresh chapter for the rural South Shore destination, which draws thousands each summer for camping under lofty pines, private beach access, and traditional seafood dinners. Over the decades, the distinct Maritime aesthetic has attracted notable visitors, including KFC founder Colonel Sanders, Mariah Carey, and Prince Charles and Lady Diana.

Running a historic venue requires balancing new ideas with deep-rooted traditions, a task the Harnish family has managed across nine decades. Luke Harnish, sitting in the dining hall and dance floor alongside his father, Rhys Harnish, reflected on the global reach of the remote destination.

“At any given night in this room, we’ll have people from almost every continent on earth in here…. You realize this is a really unique and fun and amazing place to be,” Luke Harnish told CBC.

“Dad and I looked at each other dumbfounded many times this summer, just like, why does this work?” Harnish said.