MUSIC STAGE

Join us for the final event at OutFest 2026! Averi Chandler will open the show, followed by Dear Good Dear. We’ll also be announcing the Festival Awards. So grab a friend, and join us for an incredible evening of Queer music.

BIO: averi chandler

Averi Chandler is a country-soul artist known for a Stapleton-meets-childers–style sound, rooted in soul while drawing inspiration from all genres. Their music blends gospel, country, soul, blues, and anything else they can get their hands on, creating an open, genre-blending musical experience.

Originally from Sicily, Italy, Averi began making music on TikTok during the pandemic, collaborating with Italian artists and building connections online. After relocating to Halifax, Nova Scotia, they are now focused on establishing their own neo-soul-influenced sound and growing within the local music scene.

This marks Averi’s first festival performance. Expect an intimate, campfire-style acoustic set—warm, honest, and familiar—like sitting around a fire with the people you love, sharing songs that feel like home.

BIO: DEAR GOOD DEAR

A vision of unison and love arrives on stage with intoxicating, searing vocal harmonies and relentlessly catchy pop-rock melodies. From the remote shores of North-Eastern Cape Breton, music became a means of expression for Tim Hatcher. After meeting his partner Brandon MacDonald, the pair dropped out of university and moved to Dartmouth to pursue a career in music. After graduating from the NSCC Music Arts program, Tim formed Good Dear Good with Brandon and his classmates in the fall of 2018.

Since the band's inception, Good Dear Good has quickly become an East Coast favourite, performing at festivals such as Sommo, NXNE, Halifax and PEI Pride, East Coast Music Awards, and Nova Scotia Music week, as well as opening for heavy hitters like Broken Social Scene, Jamie Fine, Classified, Rêve, and Aysanabee.

Lyrics are delivered with an endearingly infectious positivity on stage, but with deeper reading, a sense of pensive gloom permeates the words. After the success of their multi-award winning debut EP "Arrival", Good Dear Good has released their much-anticipated second studio EP "Sook", which was recorded and produced by Daniel Ledwell and released on September 26th, 2025