Cabot 500th Anniversary Anchor Events

The finalized calendar of the John Cabot 500th Anniversary Celebrations features six major anchor events, 50 regional events and over 200 local events. The John Cabot 500th Anniversary Anchor Events are:

The Matthew Visit, the most prominent of the Cabot 500 anchor events, features a 46-day journey by the Matthew, a modern-day replica of Cabot's ship, around Newfoundland and touching upon Red Bay, Labrador. The vessel will sail from Bristol, England and make landfall at Bonavista, Newfoundland on June 24, 1997 where it will be joined by a North American Flotilla of nearly 100 boats. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the landfall ceremony in Bonavista and also officially open the Ryan Premises, Canada's newest National Historic Site. The site offers a fascinating glimpse of a by-gone era and the international significance of the North Atlantic fishery.

Cabot and His World Symposium, focusing on the significance of the Cabot voyages; and The Summit of the Sea, a core conference and affiliated conferences on sustainable ocean development attracting over 3,000 policy makers world-wide.

The Year of the Arts 1997, a year-long, Province-wide event comprising over 78 projects in all artistic disciplines.

The Northern Lights Festival and Labrador Games featuring unique sporting, cultural and community events in Happy Valley-Goose Bay (the site of the Games) and Labrador West (site of the Northern Lights Festival).

FESTIVAL 500 Sharing the Voices, an international choral event attracting adult and youth choirs from such countries as Russia, Brazil, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Cuba, Canada and the United States.