Fogo Island, 15 km off Newfoundland’s northeast coast, was named ‘y do fogo’, ‘fire island’, by the Portuguese. Until the late 1700s, Fogo was a summer home of the Beothuk people. The English and Irish descendants of the first inhabitants retained traces of their Elizabethan English and Old Irish dialects which can be heard on the island today. Fogo has a rich maritime history linked to wooden boats called ‘punts’. These boats were built in every coastal region of the province using methods handed down from generation to generation. The Great Fogo Island Punt Race creates a greater awareness of this wooden boat heritage, helping to preserve the traditional skills and methods and promote the pride, appreciation and enjoyment of the great wooden boats of Fogo Island.
