2026 Good Cheer Trail Renewal
We are so excited to be preparing for the 2026 Good Cheer Trail. Coming into it’s eleventh year, the Good Cheer Trail will continue to offer locals and travellers a fun, engaging tool to eat and drink their way across our province.
The Good Cheer Trail continues to get provincial, national, and international attention as a best practice in culinary tourism product development.
Plans for the 2026 season include:
- Mobile App – Our iPhone and Android friendly mobile app is free for consumers to download, allowing locals and visitors the opportunity to explore our province’s food & drink experiences from the palm of their hand.
- The Taste of Nova Scotia mobile app houses the four culinary trails – Good Cheer, Chowder, Lobster, and Cheese – with digital passports, stamps, business listings, mapping, prizes, and more.
- Printed passports – We continue to hear from trail stops and consumers that printed passports are a valuable part of the trail experience.
- Promotional materials – Passport stamps, stands, participant t-shirts, and signage for participating businesses.
- Marketing campaigns – Print, digital, social, media relations, and more.
- Integrated marketing campaigns including print, digital, social media, media relations, and partner amplification.
- Ongoing updates and enhancements to the Good Cheer Trail website, improving usability and discoverability to drive traffic directly to participating businesses.
- Revamped and centralized social media presence led by Unbound Media, delivering a comprehensive social media and digital marketing program across all four Nova Scotia Culinary Trails.
- Social media promotion will now live under a single account: @NSCulinaryTrails, instantly increasing the Good Cheer Trail’s reach through a shared and growing audience.
- Professional content creation, storytelling, and paid/organic promotion will be amplified under Unbound Media’s strategic direction.
- A cohesive digital marketing campaign positioning Nova Scotia as an engaging culinary destination, supported by self-guided exploration tools through our four culinary trails: Good Cheer Trail, Chowder Trail, Lobster Trail, and Cheese Trail.
- Incentive program – Including t-shirts for all four trails and incredible grand prizes.
- Three ways to stamp your passport – Consumers are able to stamp their Good Cheer Trail passport in three easy ways – printed passport, mobile app digital passport, and website remote check-in.
Participant Fees:
- Non-Taste of Nova Scotia Members: Participation fees in the Good Cheer Trail will remain at $250 + HST.
- Taste of Nova Scotia Member rate: Participation fees for Taste members is $150 + HST.
2026 Good Cheer Trail participation fees can be paid by credit card or by cheque made payable to Taste of Nova Scotia. Payment plan options are available. Please contact Brenda Wilson to discuss.
Prizing & Contesting:
- T-Shirts – We will continue to offer the ever-popular consumer t-shirt incentive for those who achieve a certain number of stamps.
- Grand Prize – We will continue to offer at least three grand prize draws.
- If you are interested in donating a prize for social media contest purposes, please contact Lola Burgoyne to arrange.
If you have any questions about the upcoming culinary trails program, please contact Lola Burgoyne at trails@tasteofnovascotia.com. Please note, the deadline for renewal is Tuesday, February 17, 2026.