Brookes Diamond has managed the careers of Rita MacNeil, The Rankin Family, singer-songwriter Bruce Guthro, Aselin Debison, comedian Bette MacDonald, Ryan’s Fancy and children’s entertainers Sharon Lois and Bram.
With his wife and business partner Fiona, Brookes Diamond Productions has produced countless successful entertainment events including the G-7 Summit Ceilidh, the Tall Ships 2000 main stage shows, the Symphony Explosion with Symphony Nova Scotia, Remembering Stan Rogers, live shows, and television and radio specials.
Brookes and Fiona also founded the Halifax Comedy Festival.
They’ve produced shows all over the world including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Royal Albert Hall in London and the Palace Theater in Times Square New York.
Brookes Diamond Production also created Drum! a show synthesizing the musical culture of Atlantic Canada’s indigenous and European cultures, your hearing music from this production now.
More recently Brookes collaborated with filmmaker Saltwind Productions to create a film honouring Nova Scotia’s sailing Ambassador. Bluenose, The Legend Lives is screening in a seasonal production, SeaDome, on the Halifax waterfront using cutting-edge VR technology in a 360-degree projection dome.
Perhaps most famously, Brookes Diamond Productions was responsible for the creation of the 1970’s Atlantic Folk Festival. The Folk Festival ran for seven years on Moxom’s Farm in the Hardwood Lands of Nova Scotia. In many ways, it served as the birth of an organized music industry in Atlantic Canada.
Today in part 1 of this 2 part podcast, I talk to Brookes about growing up in Atlantic Canada and walk through a few amazing stories about the Atlantic Folk Festival. I sat down to talk with Brookes about some of these experiences in his home in west end Halifax.