Canada Day & Memorial Day with Mike Downie
Spend Canada Day at Fogo Island Inn, where we will reflect on Canadian history and commemorate Memorial Day.
While July 1st is celebrated as Canada Day across the country, it’s known as Memorial Day in Newfoundland and Labrador. The day honours and remembers all Newfoundlanders who served during World War I, including the members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment who fought during the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel.
Enjoy champagne and cupcakes, as well as outdoor adventures, honourary salutes fired from behind the Inn, and more Canadian-themed surprises. Special guest Mike Downie will join us for a keynote address.
Dates
July 1, 2026
Itinerary Inclusions
- Cupcake Celebration with Live Music
- Island Orientation with a Community Host
- Hiking with Outdoor Adventure Guides
- All regular activities included in a stay
Good to know
- While rubber boots are available, we recommend guests bring their own hiking boots or shoes. Trails can be muddy or rocky.
- Active apparel, including outerwear, pants, hats, gloves and crampons, as well as insect repellent and head nets, are available if required.
Special Guests
Mike Downie, documentary filmmaker
Mike Downie is the founder and creative force behind Courage Films, a production company dedicated to making Canadian films that inspire positive social and cultural change in today’s challenging world.
Mike directed No Dress Rehearsal - The Story of The Tragically Hip, a 4-part doc series on the Canadian band that won the People’s Choice Documentary Award at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and 7 Canadian Screen Awards in 2025.
Mike and his late brother Gord, founded the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF) in collaboration with the Wenjack family. DWF is an Indigenous led fund that aims to inspire all Canadians to help build a more equitable and inclusive country, where the lives of Indigenous people truly matter.
Mike is the co-creator and documentary director of Secret Path, a multi-media project about the tragic life of Chanie Wenjack. Secret Path won a Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary at the Canadian Screen Awards (CSAs). Mike directed Gord Downie’s Secret Path in Concert, a film on Gord’s epic performance that won two CSA’s. Finding the Secret Path, the final film in the SP film trilogy, won CSAs for both Best Arts Documentary and Best Documentary Director.
He also directed and produced many more documentaries and shows, including the hit CBC show Dragon’s Den, episodes of The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, and more. Before his career in film and television, Mike worked as a deep shaft miner in Northern Ontario, a medical researcher at McGill University, a junior economist in Toronto, and a windsurfing instructor in the US Virgin Islands.