What's on in St. John's, Newfoundland (St. John's), Canada through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in Canada, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Winter storm season

  1 Jan – 31 Mar · usuallyWinter storms & galesClosures

  This is among the snowiest and windiest cities in the country, and a single storm shut it entirely for a week in 2020. Flights are the first thing to go and the airport is the only way out. Source ↗

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Winter storm season (1 Jan – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — March break / semaine de relâche in Canada

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Winter storm season (1 Jan – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Nature

  Iceberg season

  1 May – 10 Jul · usually

  Bergs calved off Greenland drift down the coast and ground in the shallows, usually most numerous from late May to mid-June. Some years bring dozens past Cape Spear and some bring almost none. Source ↗

• Nature

  Puffins at Witless Bay

  15 May – 15 Aug · usuallyBirdlife season

  Hundreds of thousands of puffins and murres nest on the islands half an hour south of town, reachable on a two-hour boat that usually finds whales on the same trip.

• Season

  Fog season

  15 May – 31 Jul · usuallyRisk

  Warm air over the cold Labrador current makes this one of the foggiest places anywhere, worst in late spring and early summer. Signal Hill vanishes for days and the icebergs are somewhere in it.

Busy — Summer break in Canada, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Humpbacks and the capelin roll

  1 Jun – 31 Aug · usuallyWhale season

  Humpbacks follow the capelin inshore in June and stay through the summer. The capelin themselves spawn onto the beaches in a few days somewhere around the turn of July, and people fill buckets.

Still on: Iceberg season (1 May – 10 Jul (usually)), Puffins at Witless Bay (15 May – 15 Aug (usually)), Fog season (15 May – 31 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — Memorial Day and Canada Day, George Street Festival

• Holiday

  Memorial Day and Canada Day

  1 JulNational holidayClosures

  In this province 1 July is Memorial Day before it is Canada Day. The morning ceremony at the National War Memorial marks the regiment cut down at Beaumont-Hamel in 1916; the celebrating starts afterwards. Source ↗

• Festival

  George Street Festival

  29 Jul – 5 Aug · usuallyMusic festivalCrowded

  A week of outdoor concerts on a two-block street that is nothing but bars, ending the night before the Regatta. The two are planned as one long week here. Source ↗

Still on: Iceberg season (1 May – 10 Jul (usually)), Puffins at Witless Bay (15 May – 15 Aug (usually)), Fog season (15 May – 31 Jul (usually)), Humpbacks and the capelin roll (1 Jun – 31 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — George Street Festival, Royal St John's Regatta

• Festival

  Royal St John's Regatta

  3–9 Aug · usuallySporting eventClosuresCrowded

  Fixed-seat rowing on Quidi Vidi Lake on the first Wednesday of August, and the only civic holiday in the country decided by a wind call at six in the morning. If it blows, everyone goes to work. Source ↗

Still on: Puffins at Witless Bay (15 May – 15 Aug (usually)), Humpbacks and the capelin roll (1 Jun – 31 Aug (usually)), George Street Festival (29 Jul – 5 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer break in Canada

• Hazard

  Post-tropical storm season

  1 Sep – 31 Oct · usuallyHurricane season

  In some years the remains of an Atlantic hurricane cross the Avalon Peninsula: Igor in 2010 washed out roads across eastern Newfoundland and Larry came ashore near the city in 2021. Flights and ferries stop while one passes. Source ↗

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Festival

  International Women's Film Festival

  15–28 Oct · usually

  One of the longest-running festivals of films by women, now in its late thirties, with five days of screenings downtown in the third or fourth week of October. Source ↗

Still on: Post-tropical storm season (1 Sep – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Festival

  Bonfire Night

  5 NovLights & fire

  Newfoundland still keeps Guy Fawkes Night. The city itself bans open fires, so the community bonfires and fireworks are in neighbouring towns such as Paradise and Torbay, a short drive away. Source ↗

• Festival

  Mummers Festival

  25 Nov – 15 Dec · usuallyChristmas & New Year

  Workshops on making hobby horses and ugly sticks lead up to the Mummers Parade in December, when hundreds march in disguise in the old Christmas visiting tradition. Source ↗

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in Canada, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Mummers Festival (25 Nov – 15 Dec (usually))