21 September 2019, Saturday
It is very windy this morning with wind speeds up to 50 plus mph. It is also raining. The weather has caused the festival organizers to reconsider the hike. This event will now be held at the municipal park as the winds are not conducive to safe hiking, or to the chefs and musicians being able to perform. O and I pull on extra warm layers and our rain gear to walk over to Roots, Rants and Roars. By now the rain is mostly over, but the winds continue. And the ocean is certainly doing its part to roar! The bay near the park is whipped to a froth and waves throw themselves against the cliffs with foam and spray reaching the tops.
There are still plenty of people out braving the weather. One of the Newfoundlanders apologizes to me for the weather! Once again the food is good, but O and I resort to sharing portions in an effort to avoid overeating. After this part of the festival we return to the B&B and then drive into Bonavista for phone reception and to fuel Vincent up for tomorrow’s drive back towards Corner Brook. I also receive a text from a woman with whom we have crossed paths several times over the past week. She has finally gotten a ticket for the Feast this evening and asks if she can join us at a table. We make plans to meet by one of the heaters in the tents.
O and I leave the B&B around 6 pm to walk over to the Feast, the final event of Roots, Rants and Roars. This is a sit-down dinner for 500 people. By the time we arrive, music is playing, the tables are filling, and the wind is blowing. We find Sandy sitting at a table near one of the heaters. She has saved two seats for us. Two other women have already joined her. Sandy says as soon as the gate opened at 6 there was a mad rush for the seats nearest the heaters in the tents. The picnic tables are covered with burlap tablecloths. Our spot is pretty comfortable considering the wind and the weather! O and I are dressed in extra layers and are wearing our wool toques. We have hand-warmers in our pockets, a reserve supply left over from last year’s stay in North Dakota. I realize I have our hiking sit-upons in my daypack and I get those out as well, so we even have insulated seats.
Dinner is great! Each course is served family style. Our favorite is the salmon filet. It’s an entire filet, served up on a platter with herbs and greens and sauce. It’s big enough for 10 people, though there are just the five of us at the table. O and I and Sandy, campers that we are, have brought “doggy bags” just in case there are left-overs. We each take home an extra portion of the fish. Throughout the evening cold people come over to stand next to our table under our heater. Many are veterans of previous RR&R festivals. They say this is the coldest event ever. (The temperature is around 8 degrees C, and the continued wind makes it feel much colder.) Some of the Newfoundlanders again apologize for the weather. They want to know where we are from and hope we are enjoying our stay. It’s as if each one is our personal host, interested in our well-being. They smile broadly when O and I tell them we’ve enjoyed Newfoundland so much we’ll be back next year.
The food courses are finally finished just after 11. On stage are The Masterless Men, a group that sings traditional Newfoundland music. They’ve been together over 30 years and they are excellent. O and I reluctantly leave at 11:30. We walk back to the B&B just as an orange half moon is rising over the foaming waters of the cove. It’s a fantastic conclusion to our stay in this great province.