Head to the shed for lively traditional music, singalongs, spirited storytelling, and the warm hospitality that defines Canada’s North Atlantic-coast province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Far from pokey backyard places to store the lawnmower, these spacious structures are built for both work and play.

Julian CalverleyA shed in Greenspond, Newfoundland and Labrador

During the day, the shed is a workshop — a place to fix machinery, the boat, or mend fishing nets. But after supper, friends and family drop by with fiddles, guitars, and a button accordion to have a drink, sing a few songs, and tell a story or two by the woodstove. It’s usually a spontaneous gathering, but sheds are such a part of life in Newfoundland and Labrador that a party is never unexpected. 

Follow the music

You’ll find sheds beside clapboard houses on rock flats overlooking the ocean across Newfoundland, where laundry flaps on the line in strong winds off the sea. 

An open door is as good as an invitation to come in. Or look for the green shamrock light in the window of Phil and Maureen Foley’s shed on Fogo Island (population 2,400), about an hour by ferry from the island of Newfoundland. You’ll find the Foley’s shed in Tilting, a small fishing community that traces its Irish roots to the 18th century.

“It’s not a business. It’s our shed. It’s just hospitality. They don’t have to be invited,” says Maureen Foley.

Ned PrattMusic is a common activity at shed parties

On a summer’s day, visitors often walk past her shed on their way to Squish Studio, one of the dramatic artist-in-residence buildings on Fogo. If they hear music playing, they’ll drop in, Foley says. “Tilting is known for traditional Irish songs and singers and storytellers,” she adds.

The Foley’s shed caught on as a community gathering place when a crew of young Irish carpenters arrived on Fogo Island in 2012 to work on the Fogo Island Inn, a dramatic hotel on stilts just up the road in the town of Joe Batt’s Arm. The inn’s Community Hosts program started teaming guests with a local resident to explore the area, including the Foleys’ shed.

Sheds can be rustic or fancy and usually hold about 25 people. Visitors from “away” (the word for non-Newfoundlanders) are welcome, especially during the June to October tourist season. You can expect to hear traditional songs like “The Ode to Newfoundland” and “I’s the B’y” accompanied by lively musicians. Sing along. Since your toes keep tapping, how about a dance?

You may get a snack and a drink — the sheds don’t have a liquor license, so a “contribution” is welcome. Or bring a little something with you.

Community is very important in Newfoundland and Labrador. “It’s always been that way,” says Newfoundland-born broadcaster and music producer Larry Hennessey. “Compared to the rest of North America, people are phenomenally welcoming, friendly, and helpful.” And if you’re “from away,” Hennessey says, you’ll still be welcomed like family.

Shed parties run on the talents of the seemingly endless number of skilled local musicians that Newfoundland and Labrador is famous for. “Everybody here plays or sings,” Hennessey says.

Search for your shed

Finding a shed party is easy .Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism can help with itineraries and trip ideas, including details on the Authentic Outport Shed Experiences at Coastal Cottages. 

“There’s not two shed experiences I have had that have been the same,” says Susan Rose, host of the Authentic Outport Shed Experience and a self-described “tomboy” who grew up in the sheds.

The retired teacher and recipient of the Order of Newfoundland (the highest honor the province can bestow on its citizens) bought her property in Blackhead, Conception Bay in 2003. It’s about 80 miles along the historic Baccalieu Trail from St. John’s. In the winter, friends and family drop by “da shed” there for music and stories. Rose cooks a traditional hearty Jiggs’ Dinner of salt meat boiled with vegetables and split peas on the shed’s wood stove.

In summer, “da shed” hosts the Authentic Outport Shed Experience. Parties average $125 per person and can be customized for guests, including a tasting menu of local dishes and a hands-on lesson in making an ugly stick to take home. 

A what?

Newfoundland and Labrador TourismShed experience at Coastal Cottages

You’ll typically be invited to sing along or join the band in any shed, but don’t fret about a lack of musical skill. You’ll be handed an ugly stick, a homely homemade instrument that’s pretty fun to play. It’s created from a wooden mop handle with a rubber boot or shoe for a base and studded with bottle caps, shiny bits, and things that jingle or jangle. It’s played with a stick, and makes a fine dance partner in a pinch.

“It’s what life was like and is like,” Rose says of the shed. Just like a local, you’ll be greeted at the door as if you were an old friend.

Same traditions, different room

Songs, stories, and hospitality are quick to fill other spaces in Newfoundland and Labrador homes, where kitchen parties are also famous.

Take the kitchen at Sean Sullivan’s summer home along the Irish Loop in Calvert on the south shore, about 50 miles south of St. John’s .Sullivan’s Songhouse brings the shed experience into the house with twice-weekly, alcohol-free afternoon music and storytelling sessions for about 25 guests. Admission is $25. 

Sullivan says tourists come from all over the world to sing the traditional Irish songs he grew up with at the Songhouse and “have a scuff (dance) or a waltz” in his kitchen. Everybody gets a bottle of water and a few peppermint knobs, tasty hard candy made locally at the Purity factory in St. John’s.

“They come in strangers but by the time they leave, you can tell they really enjoy it,” Sullivan says. “We never saw anyone walking out with a long face on ’em. They are really taken with it.”

Rose echoes a similar sentiment about her shed. “I want (guests) to go home thinking this is the way it should be,” she says. “Family and friends work hard all week and come together for food, talking and laughing and our music. It’s the way to anyone’s soul anywhere in the world.”