The 35 annual East Coast Music Awards is set to go under the bright lights of Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.

Cape Breton’s Natalie MacMaster will perform and receive an honourary award on Thursday night. The renowned fiddler has been a key player in elevating Celtic music and bringing it to the international stage.

Classified and The East Pointers lead the pack with six nominations while David Myles is up for four awards. They are both in the running in the Fans Choice and Album of the Year categories.

Nova Scotia musicians lead the way with 86 nominations, including 20 from Cape Breton.

Newfoundland has 57 and New Brunswick comes in with 40 nominations.