Corner Brook

After five days at sea, we arrived at Corner Brook, Canada on the 21st September 2024. We all felt excited to reaching our first Port-of-call. Before approaching Canada, we had to complete appropriate paperwork, so our disembarkation was problem free. The weather was amazing, warm and sunny and we boarded the Complementary Shuttle Bus that ferried us to Corner Brook.

Corner Brook turned out to be a charming, small town with a picturesque village green where a little festival was being held.

After a stroll along the Main Street where a wonderful street makers market was being held, we sat on the grass and enjoyed the entertainment. There were lots of haystacks and pumpkins around giving a nice autumnal/ Halloween flavour. There was even a little petting zoo where you were able to stroke goats, rabbits and baby birds. There were lots of adorable dogs around the owners were always happy to chat about their pooches.

The people of Newfoundland and Labrador have a reputation for being friendly, which we found to be the case. Warm and welcoming, fun loving and funny, the people here are also known for their natural creativity, unique language, and knack for storytelling. We saw much evidence of this creativity in some of the amazing crafts for sale in the makers market. Every stall holder was friendly and one church based stall gave away delicious free hot chocolate and snacks to passers by. We also loved seeing the traditional Newfoundland wooden houses, many decorated with lights, flowers and pumpkins.

The Broadway Blues Band, who performed on the village green were right up our street and we enjoyed some top quality Blues sounds while we basked in the sun and watched people laughing and dancing. We stayed to watch Cecil and the Mummers, and having never seen mummers before, we were very intrigued. Cecil was a folk singer, and his repertoire included plenty of Irish and Scottish tunes.

Meanwhile, the Mummers danced often forming circles and in pairs. They were a group, mainly consisting of women in this case, with their faces veiled and dressed in bizarre clothing., inviting spectators to join them in their dancing.

Mummers apparently can be traced back to ancient Greece. It is derived from Momus, the personification of satire and mockery and is found in an old English word mommer, which relates to miming, masking and frolicking. Mummery became a tradition within English and Irish communities where people would don disguises and go house to house, sometimes raising funds for charity as they go. The earliest record of mummering in Newfoundland is 1819, but this tradition is thought to have been brought to the island by the English and Irish in the 19th century.  Mummering is mainly a Christmas custom and it involves people disguised in veils and costumes and visiting the home’s of their neighbours to enjoy food and drink

After a lovely day in Corner Brook, we returned to board the Sky Princess with some very pleasant memories. As our very first experience of Canada, it was definitely a positive one. We look forward to the next port which is Saquenay in the Quebec region.