Mummers Festival 2019 is on the way!

The 2019 Mummers Festival runs November 30th to December 18th with events leading up to the Mummers Parade on Saturday, December 14th! Don’t just watch the Parade, be in it! Get yourself dressed up or come to our Rig Up an hour before the Parade to fashion yourself the perfect disguise.

The Parade ends at our Scuff ‘n’ Scoff party with live music, Purity syrup and sweets. The event will feature live music, so expect lots of hard stompin’.

If you really want to spice up your disguise this year, the Festival is hosting several different workshops: make an ugly stick, build a hobby horse, fashion yourself a box, bucket, or pillowcase mask.

There’s 13 events for you to choose from! Get your mummer on!

The Mummers Festival is still looking for volunteers for Parade Day, December 14th, 2019. We’re in need of parade marshals, set up and clean up squads, and more! Volunteers receive a fancy schmancy Festival t-shirt as a thank you. Sign up online by visiting mummersfestival.ca and click on the “Get Involved” link.

For more information and a full listing of events visit mummersfestival.ca

Hobby Horses, Makerspaces, and Digital Literacies

Group displaying their completed horses.

Last week Dale and I led a hobby horse workshop as part of the SSHRC Conference on Makerspaces and Digital Literacies. The goal of the conference was to engage in scholarly discussion around how making is central the way that people practice literacies in their own lives. These can be both tangible and intangible objects and are very relatable to material cultures.

Pieces the horses together.

The aim of the conference was to consider how making and literacy can come together through the use of material culture to engage communities with concepts of citizenship. This conference also focused on how makerspaces can be developed in interesting and innovative ways through cultural institutions such as The Rooms and The Geo Centre.

Finishing touches.

As part of the conference Dr. Anne Burke asked Dale to give a presentation on intangible cultural heritage, and the work of the ICH office. We also led a very quick hobby horse workshop for the participants who came from different places around the world. Participants from the UK were familiar with hobby horses, and those from Finland recounted stories of a different breed of hobby horse which are ridden instead of worn. (If you want to learn more about the hobby horse revolution in Finland click here to watch a short video clip.)

Trimming up his chin.

For those who weren't familiar with hobby horses Dale gave an overview of the tradition and some of the mischief the horses were likely to get up to while mummering such as snapping clothes, stealing table clothes, turning off lights, and "eating" snacks. We split the group of fifteen into three smaller groups and led them through the process of creating and decorating a hobby horse from this template. The group had a lot of fun and were creative in the decorating process with one team adding braces to their hobby horse's teeth. If you want to learn more about hobby horses check out the Mummers Festival page, or keep your eye out come December and take in one of the hobby horse workshops offered by the festival.

Dentistry work.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep094 Beware the Christmas Terror - The Hobby Horse

Dale Jarvis, Terra Barrett, and Ryan Davis (plus bonus Yeti!)

Ryan Davis has been running the Mummers Festival since 2009. He holds an MA in Folklore and a BA in Communication Studies. It was his interest in festivals, celebrations, and costuming that led him to mummering traditions. The Mummers Festival promotes the continuation and evolution of traditional arts and performance by encouraging active participation in mummering activities. The Mummers Festival helps to keep mummering alive and contemporary.

One of the traditions the Mummers Festival has helped to safeguard is the hobby horse. With its devilish spirit and snapping jaws, it might not be the first thing one associates with the season of comfort and joy, but it is a centuries-old part of the Yuletide season in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this podcast, we chat with Ryan about all things hobby horse!

Download the mp3

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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep heritage alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HFNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Mummers Parade Day Events - Saturday, December 10th!

Mummers Parade Day. 4 Events. 1 Great time!
Shake out those long johns and borrow your Aunt’s size 42 bra. We’re calling all mummers to the Mummers Parade! Join us at Bishop Feild Elementary (46 Bond Street) in St. John’s at 2:00pm on Saturday, December 10th to march in the parade wearing your best mummer gear. 

The Parade will line up at 1:45pm and leave the school at 2:00 pm. 

If you don’t have a disguise, come to the Rig Up starting at 1:00pm at Bishop Feild Elementary to find a disguise on the spot. Find the perfect tea cozy hat, fashion the perfect lace veil, or turn your clothes inside out. 

Also happening at 1:00pm at Bishop Feild, the Pot ‘n’ Pan Kitchen Jam teaches mummers some simple rhythms to bang out during the Parade. Bring your pots, pans and ugly sticks. Learn some beats then hit the streets! 

A hard-stepping Mummers Scuff ‘n’ Scoff will follow the Parade from 3:00 to 4:00pm back at Bishop Feild with live musical performances by “Russells in the Corner” and traditional dance lessons from the Mistress of Misrule! We’ll also have a drop of Purity and some sweets on hand.

In case of bad weather, the Mummers Parade day events will be held at the same times on Sunday, December 11th. Notice of postponement will be made 9:00am on Saturday Dec. 10th. Go to mummersfestival.ca for more information.

Get your long underwear ready! It's a #MummersFestival #Podcast! #FolkloreThursday

In celebration of the return of the Mummers Festival on November 26th, we are rebroadcasting one of our previous podcasts, an interview with Ryan Davis, the mummer-in-charge of the festival!

Ryan Davis has been running the Mummers Festival since 2009. He holds an MA in Folklore and a BA in Communication Studies. It was his interest in festivals, celebrations, and costuming that led him to mummering traditions. The Mummers Festival promotes the continuation and evolution of traditional arts and performance by encouraging active participation in mummering activities. The Mummers Festival helps to keep mummering alive and contemporary and adds to the population’s pride of place.

In this edition of the Living Heritage Podcast, Ryan talks about what mummers are and what they do, the beginnings of the Mummers Festival and how it has grown over seven years, the successes and challenges of running a festival, and what he hopes the festival will offer in the future.

See you at the parade on December 10th!

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/678/rec/1

Tuesday's Folklore Photos - Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference

Architecture or built heritage in Old Quebec.

Today’s Folklore Photos come from the International Conference on Intangible Cultural Heritage in Quebec City, QC. The conference was held at Laval University and brought together the Folklore Studies Association of Canada, the Canadian Network for Intangible Cultural Heritage, Canadian Society for Traditional Music, the Canada research Chair in Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Institute for Cultural Heritage of Laval University, and the Centre for Culture, Art and Society.

On Wednesday evening after a day of completing tape logs and metadata descriptions at the office I flew to Toronto and then on to Quebec City for the conference where a number of folklorists and heritage professionals were meeting and presenting papers on their work. Thursday was focused on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and there were presenters from across the country and beyond. There was a lot of discussion on UNESCO's 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention and what has happened in the ten years since the conference was ratified in 2006. Presenters from Belgium, Denmark and Norway described how their countries were working on ICH since ratifying the convention while presenters from Scotland, and Canada discussed their interest in ratifying the convention and moving forward with preserving ICH in their countries. Dale gave a presentation on the work of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office since 2008 and focused on the Grey Sock project as an example of the work from the Heritage Foundation which celebrates, records, disseminates, and promotes ICH or the living heritage of the province.

The Huron-Wendat Museum in Wendake, QC.  Participants were treated to a tour of the museum and a banquet meal on Friday evening.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday there were presentations from folklorists, ethnomusicologists, anthologists, and many other heritage professionals. Some presentations focused on what their institutions were working on while others presented a paper or specific concept or concern in heritage. On Saturday morning I presented a paper I had written on the Mummers Festival. It was called “Shagging with the Tradition: The St. John’s Mummers Festival” and looked at how the Mummers Festival has used Intangible Cultural Heritage to create community and increase tourism. It also traced mummering as a cultural symbol for the province since the 1960s until today.

Presenting the paper Shagging with the Tradition: The St John's Mummers Festival.  Photo by Ryan Davis.

It was a beautiful weekend in Quebec City which finished with a declaration of interest in ICH in Canada and a wish for the country to ratify UNESCO’s convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage in order to preserve and promote the ICH of the country as a whole.

Laurier Turgeon and Dale Jarvis reading the declaration on ICH.

~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep036 The Mummers Festival with Ryan Davis

Ryan Davis has been running the Mummers Festival since 2009. He holds an MA in Folklore and a BA in Communication Studies. It was his interest in festivals, celebrations, and costuming that led him to mummering traditions. The Mummers Festival promotes the continuation and evolution of traditional arts and performance by encouraging active participation in mummering activities. The Mummers Festival helps to keep mummering alive and contemporary and adds to the population’s pride of place.

In this edition of the Living Heritage Podcast, Ryan talks about what mummers are and what they do, the beginnings of the Mummers Festival and how it has grown over seven years, the successes and challenges of running a festival, and what he hopes the festival will offer in the future.

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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Create your own Newfoundland Hobby Horse for #makermonday!

Do you want to know how to make a Hobby Horse? Look no further!

It's no secret we love the tradition of Newfoundland and Labrador Hobby Horses here at the Intangible Cultural Heritage office.  So we are delighted to report that our friends at the Mummers Festival, with funding from the Helen Creighton Folklore Society, have recently completed their step-by-step guide for making your own hobby horse.

These aren't the children's toy hobby horses, but a large, fearsome folk puppet, an element of chaos which was part of the Christmas mummering tradition in Newfoundland and Labrador.

You can check out their new video on YouTube, or watch below!




There is also an earlier video about the Hobby Horse making workshops, filmed by NTV.




You can read a description of the DIY process here and download a pdf of the template here.

If you want some inspiration from across the pond, check out these cool hobbies from The Wantsum Hoodners at The Banbury Hobby Horse Festival 2010, on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas: A Mummer Media Roundup!

Merry Christmas to you, one and all!

The 2015 Mummers Festival got a lot of attention this year, and I wanted to pull some of the media coverage together in one place.

Newfoundland's annual Mummers Festival aims to revive a centuries-old Christmas tradition
The Globe and Mail

Making Mummeries
The Telegram

‘Any mummers ‘lowed in?’ Keeping a Christmas tradition alive in Newfoundland.
Yahoo News

St. John's 2015 Mummer's Parade
YouTube

Photo by Darren Calabrese for The Globe and Mail. Christine Legrow wears a lampshade and doily on her head.

This year, it is all about Fools at the Mummers Festival.

Though it has been years since their last appearance, Christmas Fools are still remembered for their elaborate crêpe paper and tinsel outfits as well as their mischievous antics around town on Old Christmas Day. In Pouch Cove ominous Fools would emerge from the forest of Shoe Cove and, whipping ropes in hand, chase anyone and everyone in sight. Hiding under the fish flakes was the only choice to ward off the Fools who wore giant headdresses too tall to crawl into small spaces.

There are plenty of opportunities to learn more about the Fool tradition, or to act Foolish yourself!

“Fool’s Paradise”: A Lecture and Public Forum about the NL Fool tradition
December 9 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
The Rooms

Finding Fools: Researching NL’s Fool Traditions
December 10 at 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
The Rooms

Pouch Cove’s Ribbon Rig Workshop
December 10 at 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
December 12 AT 1:00 pm– 5:00 pm

Victoria Park Poolhouse, St. John's

Ship (Hat) of Fools Workshop
December 16 at 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

December 17 at 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Victoria Park Poolhouse, St. John's

Build your own Hobby Horse and Christmas Bull

The Mummers Festival is hosting a Hobby Horse and Christmas Bull Workshop this Saturday, December 5th from 1pm to 5pm. No longer a common sight, the hobby horse is a most peculiar breed. Even more mysterious is the christmas bull, an old time holiday companion to the hobby horse. Come to a session, build a hobby horse or christmas bull, and then ride it over to the Mummer’s Parade on December 19th. We want a cavalry of holiday beasts and we need your help! The workshop takes place at the Victoria Park Poolhouse. Workshops are free and donations are welcomed. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Space is limited so get there early. For more information visit mummersfestival.ca

Look out! Mummers want your long johns!

The Mummers Festival is looking for donations of old, clean mummers garb to be used during our annual Rig Up! This free community event allows anyone to dress up in the perfect disguise just prior to the Mummers Parade on Saturday, December 19th, 2015.

All donations are welcome, but especially useful items include things such as:

• Lace curtains or pillowcases to cover the face
• Silly household items that can be used as hats (Tea cozies, colanders, lampshades, etc)
• Wigs, masks, mittens
• Loose-fitting clothes that can be worn over winter clothes so our mummers stay warm!
• Kooky dresses (unwanted wedding dresses welcome!) 
• Fishermen’s oilskins, hunting jackets, flannel
• Aprons
• Longjohns
• Anything else you can envision a mummer wearing!

From November 6th to December 14th drop-off boxes will be stationed at:

A.C. Hunter Library
Arts and Culture Centre
125 Allandale Rd

Michael Donovan Public Library
655 Topsail Rd

Marjorie Mews Public Library
12 Highland Drive

We will also be accepting donations all day on November 24th, 25th, and 26th out of Victoria Park Poolhouse.

For more information check out our website at mummersfestival.ca

Playing games, putting up ice, and a trip to Paris

In this edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: the ICH office heads to Paris for UNESCO meetings; more from our Petty Harbour oral history project with memories from twins Gussie and Jimmy Kieley; Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador board member Doug Wells shares memories of cutting ice in Harbour Breton; the fall 2014 overview of ICH activities; introducing our "Hoist Your Sails And Run" project bringing together youth and seniors to talk about games; and the schedule for the 2014 Mummers Festival.

Download the newsletter in various formats here.

Contributions by: Dale Jarvis, Terra Barrett, Doug Wells, and Sharon King-Campbell.

Looking for Labrador Nalajuit!

Are you a Nalujuk? Have you dressed up for Nalujuk Night before? If yes, we would like to meet you. The Mummers Festival is doing some research about Nalujuk Night and would like to know more from the people who know best. How does it feel to be a Nalujuk? What do you wear? What do you do? These are just a few of the questions the Mummers Festival would like answered. If you have 30 minutes to spare, could we meet with you?

Please contact Ryan Davis, Mummers Festival Coordinator at (709) 697-8722 or by email at info@mummersfestival.ca

What's happening Thursday-Saturday in Intangible Cultural Heritage

It is going to be a busy three days! Buckle up, fans of folklore!
Thursday, 12 December, 2013

12:30pm - Mummering Crosstalk on CBC Radio noon with folklorist Dale Jarvis with the Heritage Foundation of NL, and Dara Valelly, with the Armagh Rhymers. Listen online here or phone in with your memories of janneys, mummers, hobby horses, wren boys, and nalujuit! 

2:30pm - Mumming in Northern Ireland: a documentary and talk with the Armagh Rhymers at The Rooms 

8:00pm - Armagh Rhymers at the Inne of Olde, Quidi Vidi: an evening of traditional fireside entertainment with Northern Ireland's Armagh Rhymers. Come for a drink and a session of Irish songs, tunes and poetry. Facebook event listing. $10 at the door

Friday, 13 December, 2013

1:00pm - ICH Mini Forum, MMaP, Arts and Culture Centre: come see what work is happening in our community related to folklore, oral history, and intangible cultural heritage. Free, and open to the public, but you can RSVP and find more detail here. 

7:00pm - Lighting of the Boats in Port de Grave: one of the province's new, brilliant Christmas traditions. Like them on Facebook!

Saturday, 14 December, 2013 - Mummers Parade!

1:00pm - Rig up at Bishop Feild School 

2:00pm - Parade Starts 

3:00pm - Scoff and Scuff outside The Rooms, with The Concert Crowd and the Armagh Rhymers!

MAX Mummers Play: Who is Pickedy Wick?

The traditional mummers play "Soldiers acting at Christmas" was part of the folk traditions of Change Islands, Newfoundland, and dates to circa 1900. It is a hero combat play, where King George fights the King of Egypt, with a death and revival typical of other mummers plays in Newfoundland, UK and elsewhere.

Towards the end of the Change Islands play, there is a procession of stock characters, one of whom is Pickedy Wick, who enters and states:

Here comes I, Pickedy Wick,
put my hand in my pocket and pay what I thinks fit;
Ladies and gentlemen, sit down to their ease,
Put their hands in their pockets and pay what they please,
And if you don't believe those words I say,
step in Beelzebub and boldly clear thy way.

This year, we've been working with Julia Halfyard and Tim Matson with the MAX theatre program in St. John's. Tim has adapted and updated the mummers play, which the MAX theatre students will perform in December.

One of our brave band of mummers, Caitlin Harte, asked last week about who the character of Pickedy Wick is supposed represent. A fair enough question, really, as many of the characters in the traditional mummers plays are foreign to young audiences today.

I suspect the character is based on the figure of Samuel Pickwick, the hero of the Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens. Here is a quote to describe him:

He is a simple-minded, benevolent old gentleman, who wears spectacles, breeches, and short black gaiters, has a bald head, and 'good round belly.'

- Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 

My thought is that he is in the play to represent the idea of good times, good friends, good food and good cheer - a jolly fellow, perfect for Christmas.

You can come see Pickedy Wick, King George, the Villainous Knight, the Doctor, and all their friends as the MAX theatre students perform their version of the old mummers play as part of the Mummers Festival, at The Rooms, on Sunday, December 8th.

Mummers Wish List - do you have any of these items?

Hi all! I need some props for the Mummer's Play we are running with the MAX theatre students. Contact me, or Nicole Penney and we'll arrange pickup in the St. John's area.

- Stretcher or spine board, something that two teenage girls could carry (without a body on it)

- Large black or brown leather old fashioned doctor’s bag (or plumbers bag?)

- Funnel and length of hose

- Foam swords

- A big club or fake barbell, made of foam, so a small person could easily lift it

- two wooden push brooms

Tueday's Folklore Photo: A Pretty Ugly Stick

I saw this ugly stick in a cabin in French's Cove over the weekend and was inspired to take a photo. I'm not sure who made it, but it has all the classic ugly stick features: an ugly head, some jangly noise-makers, a rubber boot for stomping, and some decorative flourishes to make it as unique as possible. I am particularly fond of the pretty feathers on this one.

You can make your own ugly stick with help from the upcoming Mummers Festival. There are two workshops that you can sign up for. Click here to learn more, and we hope to see you there!

-Lisa

Mummers Parade marches closer, and needs volunteers!

Do you like wearing a bra outside your clothes? Do you own long underwear? Is your idea of the perfect musical instrument an ugly stick? Then we have a volunteer opportunity for you!

The Mummers Festival will soon be here, and volunteers play a vital role in this community event! We hope you enjoy working as a volunteer as much a we, the organizers do! Community involvement can be a very gratifying experience.

All volunteers will receive a 2013 Mummers Festival T-shirt for their help. They are beautiful, just like you!

For details on how you can participate, visit the signup page here.

Mummers Parade Saturday in St. John's, Sunday in Clarenville

Well, the Mummers Festival is banging to a crescendo this weekend!

On Saturday, Dec 15th, we have the Rig Up, the Parade itself, the Mummers Jam, and new this year, Mummeroke!

Remember, we want you to be IN the parade! This is a participatory event, and anyone can dress up and join in.

Also new this year, the Clarenville Mummers Parade and Jam, happening Sunday, Dec 16th.

If you are curious, you can look at the St. John's parade route on Google Maps, or listen to the CBC Radio Noon Crosstalk on mummering.

www.mummersfestival.ca