At The Gathering in Burlington, Newfoundland

Actor, comedian and local Burlington, Newfoundland resident Shaun Majumder and friends are in their fifth year putting on The Gathering, a fire, food and music festival in rural central Newfoundland.  Shaun’s objective is to help put his hometown and the surrounding area on the tourist map with a festival that highlights Newfoundland talent (chefs, comedians, musicians and artisans).

I arrived at Tent City, the place I would call home for the next couple of nights, as would hundreds of others. Those not camping would be in RV’s and occupying the few rooms and other accommodations available in the surrounding community. After getting settled in my tent and making a few friends, several  of us headed off to the first activity of the festival, the Jigg’s Supper (aka a boiled dinner). Hundreds of people packed the Middle Arm Town Hall where volunteers fed the hungry and Shaun and friends entertained. A Jugg’s supper is a traditional Newfoundland meal typically served on Sunday’s that consists of f salt beef (or salt riblets), boiled together with potatoes, carrot, cabbage, turnip, and cabbage or turnip greens. It really wasn’t very cool, but most were happy to have the sustenance.

While our belly’s were full of food, they would soon be full of laughter too. Many of us walked to a nearby school gym in Middle Arm (town name) where chairs were set up in preparation for a belly busting evening as several top comedians performed.  Shaun emceed the event and got the laughter rolling, while impersonator Mark Critch and Canada’s comedic icon Ron James and others kept us in stitches.

After the comedy show, most everyone boarded buses back to Tent City. After mingling by a bonfire for a while, I made it to my tent and attempted to get some sleep as the revelry continued. A night of rain pounced our tents, but let up just as the next day began.

After getting freshened up, several of us walked from Tent City to a waiting bus that took us to Burlington’s Town Hall for breakfast, which consisted of some pretty lame French Toast and sausage. There was no coffee or juice available and I was seriously getting worried about the “food” part of The Gathering theme. Thankfully, a couple of hours later at The Gathering grounds the real chef’s began preparing a lunchtime snack, which was quite good. The first act took the main stage just after 11am and I sat around and enjoyed the wonderful live music and good eats. A couple hours later I participated in the Brook Picnic, which was about a fifteen minute walk from The Gathering grounds to this very cool swimming hole. There, volunteers handed out bags of prepared food/snacks to the 75 or so in attendance while chef Murry McDonald grilled up fresh caught cod for some sensational fish tacos. All the while, live music was being performed. After the picnic, many took to the water for a dip in the brook. It was such a cool afternoon with great food, fantastic music and wonderful company.

After the picnic I headed back to The Gathering grounds for the beginning of the evening entertainment. So much talent at the show, but the highlight for me was probably the two headlining acts, The Once and the Navigators.

It had been a long day and I was a bit tired, so I headed back to Tent City and had every intention of going to bed.  As me and another guy entered the lower part of Tent City we noticed not a single person was there. As I headed toward my tent the gentlemen I walked down with said, “hey, want to help me get the fire going and have a beer?” I was hesitant, but said “sure!”

It was damp out and so too was the wood pile, so it took a bit of finagling to get the fire going, but once we did, it was a blaze. We sat there and talked for a bit and then a couple people showed up and joined us. A bit later, a few more people joined, and this continued until and it wasn’t long before there was a pretty good size crowd. Then, the magic happened…a guy showed up with a guitar and began strumming a few tunes. More people gathered around the fire, soon there must have been 100 people gathered. I took on the duty of stoking the fire and adding wood to keep it going. Our musician was not alone, two other guitar players were in the house and not only could they play, but they could sing too! These guys were amazing entertainers and had the crowd buzzing and singing along. Many people started contributing, for example, one guy took a can and added sand and rocks to make a shaker. Other make-shift instruments showed up, as well as a tambourine. People were harmonizing and occasionally taking the lead. The energy was absolutely magical. This went on for hours. By 2am I finally made my way to my tent and I think the party finally came to an end around 3am.

The next morning I skipped the town hall breakfast and I drove into Middle Arm with a couple other folks to get a real breakfast at a local cafe. That afternoon I went on a Chef’s Hike with about 75 others. From Tent City we meandered up a hill for about half an hour before dropping down to a cove that provided a spectacular view of the water and a wonderful venue for food and more music. Come to find out, this little hide-a-way is Shaun’s little escape cabin, complete with a stage and dozens of picnic tables on a grassy knoll overlooking the water. While music played, Chef Jeremy Charles cooked up some grub. It was yet another fantastic side excursion from The Gathering event.

Interestingly, a couple days later I received a message from a travel blogger friend of mine who met someone at Gros Morne National Park on the western side of Newfoundland that I apparently met on that Chef’s Hike to Shaun’s cabin. My friend was asking this person if she knew or followed any travel bloggers and she said, “as a matter of fact, I just met Mike of Mike’s Road Trip.” That was pretty cool I thought.

That evening I made my way to Triton, another little fishing village community, where I stayed at the Blue Water Inn. Let me tell you, I took one long and welcomed shower after camping and spending a few days at The Gathering. Stay tuned for my next update from Central Newfoundland.