The Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation shared recent developments in their plans for this year’s Culture Days celebrations with Newfoudland and Labrador Culture Days Coordinator Laura Bruijns (laurabruijns@culturedays.ca). Hiking, local culinary specialties, music, storytelling and prizes are in the works for this fun-filled, family-friendly weekend. For more details and contact information at the BRCF, click on the full activity descriptions here:

• Shoreline Heritage Walk Geocaching Weekend

• Mussel Boil with Tradional Music

• Feed for Foodies – Chefs Demonstrate Cooking Traditional Food

Plans for Culture Days 2011

Although we are still in mauzy May in Newfoundland and Labrador, we are excited about Culture Days this fall.   The Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation [BRCF] has planned three main events so far: Shoreline Heritage Walk Geocaching Weekend, a Mussel Boil with Traditional Music at the Three Sisters, and ‘A Feed for Foodies’ at the Visitor Information Centre.

Shoreline Heritage Walk Geocaching Weekend.

The 4km Shoreline Heritage Walk in Bay Roberts East winds through the earliest settled part of the community.  Until the mid 20^th century, the area was home to a thriving community.

French's Cove, 1920 - Bay Roberts Heritage Society

At that time, people left the area, moving closer to transportation routes.  Today, along the walking trail it is possible to see cleared land where home once existed, root cellars, and rock walls built by our ancestors.

Participants will be given a Passport at the Visitor Information Centre.  They will have to answer a heritage question found in each geocache and stamp their passports.  On Sunday afternoon, they will return their Passports to the Visitor Information Centre and prizes will be awarded after a draw.

Here are photos which have taken by visitors to two of the geocaches with our disposable cameras:

Mussel Boil with Traditional Music at the Three Sisters

The Three Sisters is an amazing site which has been visited ever since early French setters in the 16^th century, who named our town Baie de Robert , dried their fish on the flat beach rocks.  We have held mussel boils there before.

Mussel Boil at the Three Sisters

A ‘Feed’ for Foodies

The ‘Feed’ for Foodies will be a new event.  It will be held at the Bay Roberts Visitor Information Centre.  The event will feature local chefs preparing a variety of dishes which are based on traditional ingredients; however, each item will be prepared with a new twist.  Our taste buds are anxiously waiting to see how creative our chefs can be!

And… we are hoping to add an OLD TIME COMMUNITY CONCERT.

The Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation [BRCF] kicked off the 2011 season on May 25^th with an Old Time Community Concert.  The Bay Roberts Concert was the final in a series of three, initiated by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in communities on the Baccalieu Trail.

The MC  was ‘Aunt Lizzie’ [Francie Barrett, who was featured in ‘A Time in Pigeon Inlet’ in 2010]  The mysterious Perrinina Bowers was a special guest, sporting a new hat from her recent visit to London for the Royal Wedding.

Storytellers included Dale Jarvis, who told a Fairy Story from Britannia on Random Island, Randy Smith of Bay Roberts who recited two stories, and Dennis Flynn of Colliers who told “yarns” about people in the community.

There were skits, and musical performances by fiddlers, accordion players, and soloists, including David Fitzpatrick, who concluded the show with the song Mad Rock from his new CD.  Mad Rock is a very well known feature on the Bay Roberts Shoreline Heritage Walk. The show was so successful, that we are now hoping to include an Old Time Community Concert as an event during Culture Days. We will be adding it to our events as plans progress.