The impulse to throw a province-wide, year-long celebration sprung, in part, from the desire to gather with family and friends after two years of social and travel restrictions. But that doesn’t mean the invitations are only going out to those with a Newfoundland and Labrador connection.

“Come Home year is absolutely for people who have never been to the province,” says author, comedian and TV personality Rick Mercer. “I promise you – this might not be your home yet, but it will be by the time you leave.”

He adds, “Nobody comes here once. Hospitality is our secret weapon.”

Come Home 2022 is an invitation to come home to Newfoundland and Labrador for the reunion we’ve all been waiting for. This year, more than any in recent memory, special events – familiar, new, and revitalized – are happening in every part of the province.

“It’s time to put on our Sunday best,” says Colleen Kennedy, project manager for the Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism. Over her career, Kennedy has helped turn Gros Morne National Park and its seven communities into one of the most celebrated tourist destinations in the country, work which earned her the Order of Newfoundland.

“We always roll out our finest when people come to visit, for people who are coming back home and new people coming into the fold. It’s time to hug everyone and welcome them back to the province,” she says. “This year, you’re going to see everybody step up to the plate and put on their best show.”

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Showcasing the beauty and creativity of the province

Like most places around the globe, pandemic life has been trying in Newfoundland and Labrador. Family and friends haven’t been able to connect. Many theatres, music venues, and festivals fell silent.

After two years of being held back, there’s a surplus of energy – and music, stories, shows, creativity and warmth – ready to burst forth and draw in everyone who wants to join the party.

Capturing that energy and using it to kickstart the tourism and hospitality sector is part of the vision for Come Home 2022, says Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey.

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“We’re also looking to reinvigorate some of the festivals that seem to have lost a little pizzazz over the last decade,” Premier Furey says. “Maybe they just required an infusion of excitement and some investment. Come Home 2022 is an opportunity to do that.”

The take-up has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic, he says. Communities in every corner of the province are planning ways to best showcase their stories, arts, natural attractions and culinary expertise.

“What a great way to catapult the industry and, frankly, the psychology of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians out of the pandemic,” says Premier Furey. “Let’s celebrate who we are and ask everyone to come home and join us.”

Not that it’s a hard sell. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians living anywhere but home are infamous for their yearning to get back.

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The draw of home

“Everyone from Newfoundland and Labrador who has had to leave for whatever reason is always plotting a return, either for a visit or full-time,” says Mercer, who has toured and performed across Canada and internationally throughout his illustrious 30-year career.

“There are so many reasons for that. People who grew up here want to reconnect. They want to hear the accents again; they want to experience the tight community. And they know they will laugh harder during their trip home then the rest of the year combined.”

The star of This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Rick Mercer Report notes that many expats feel the need to bring their kids home so they can “imprint” their home province on them.

“They want their kids to know what it’s like to take part in a kitchen party, to experience life in small communities around the bay.”

That’s what brought acclaimed chef and restauranteur Jeremy Charles back to N.L. after a decade in Chicago and elsewhere. He has since opened some of the top-rated restaurants in Canada, including Raymonds and the Merchant Tavern in St. John’s, inspiring a new appreciation for fine food with local and foraged ingredients.

“Nostalgia is part of what pulled me home,” he says. “All those childhood memories of fires on the beach, jigging a cod out of the water.” (Jigging is a specific tugging action on a fishing line in order to catch a cod.) These are now activities Charles shares with his kids – along with salmon fishing, hiking and other adventures in the wild and rugged natural environs of Newfoundland and Labrador.

“What makes this province so captivating is, of course, the beautiful scenery [and] the sense of pride we all carry,” says Premier Furey. “But, you know, other places have that. What sets it apart is a true sense of place – stemming from generations of communities, men and women, leaning on each other in tough times and harsh weather. Surviving on this piece of granite in the middle of the rough North Atlantic gives us a deep connection to each other and to the rock.”

Advice for the ‘come-from-aways’

Even those not from the province are just as likely to be affected by that spirit of connection, community and joyful celebration.

“Visitors come because we have wide open, stunning spaces,” says Colleen Kennedy. She rattles off a long list of Newfoundland and Labrador must-sees: The 10,000-year-old glacial giants of Iceberg Alley in Twillingate; frolicking whales and puffins near Bonavista; the expansive seaside sands of Burgeo; the majestic fjords of Western Brook Pond and the otherworldly beauty of the Tablelands. There are hundreds of kilometres of the coastline-hugging East Coast Trail to explore, where visitors can beachcomb, listen to the crashing waves and breathe the fresh sea air.

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“We match all that natural wonder with culture,” Kennedy says. “We have some of the best musicians, artists and storytellers, and every one of the little communities dotted around the coast has got a story to tell.”

Kennedy notes that every community spread across the province is different, “whether it’s our history, how we pronounce our words, or how we engage and interact with people.”

Then, there’s the food, which ranges from creative, elegant fine dining experiences to a lip-smacking cod and chips at the pub.

“Take a food hike, and don’t miss the food festivals,” suggests Jeremy Charles. “Taste the terroir of the landscape; taste all of our wonderful ingredients from land and sea.”

Most importantly, he adds: “Be outdoors, see the lay of the land. Just get out there and enjoy the environment.”

Premier Furey has one final piece of advice for visitors: Take as much time as you can to explore all that this unique destination has to offer.

“People tend to think the province is a small island off the coast; it’s not that at all,” he says. “Don’t underestimate the vastness of the geography, from the Torngat Mountains to Gros Morne to Fogo Island to the Southern Shore.”

As Come Home 2022 gets into full swing, visitors from far and wide have more reason than ever to plan their trip to Newfoundland and Labrador this year. But while you’re taking in the magnificent coastal vistas and great restaurants and special events, don’t forget to make time to experience “our best tourism product,” says Premier Furey.

“And that’s the generosity in the hearts of the people here in the province.”

Why I always come home

The striking landscape, the cavalcade of cuisines, the cultural richness of story and song – these are all aspects of Newfoundland and Labrador that draw people to its shores time and again.

But the heart of the province, unequivocally, is in its people.

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Actor Allan Hawco, star of Republic of Doyle, Jack Ryan and upcoming thriller Quicksand, was born on Bell Island and raised in the Goulds, Newfoundland and Labrador. While he has spent time living elsewhere through his career, he says that the number one attribute that made him want to move back home is the people he missed while away.

“The dynamic of the people here is so generous, open, honest, and it really is something that makes the place stand out,” says Hawco. “In every interaction that I have with anyone of any generation, whenever I venture out to do something, whether it’s in my professional life or just in everyday life, there’s a real approach to life that is filled with sense of humour and generosity. It’s very infectious and unique to this place.”

Hawco, whose most recent credit is as executive producer of CBC’s heartwarming coming-of-age comedy Son of a Critch, says he sometimes wonders whether it’s simple nostalgia he’s feeling when he’s away from home.

“[Then] I go away and come back, and I realize how much I’ve missed the vibe of what this place is and how much of that is generated by the people.”

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‘They’ll smile and chat like you’re old friends’

Petrina Bromley, who stars as Sister Margaret in Son of a Critch and who has been performing in the Broadway production of Come From Away since 2017, says coming back to her home province is a big change from life in New York City.

“Home for me is a feeling of belonging – it’s an intangible thing we all search for in our lives, and I feel it in Newfoundland and Labrador,” she says. “Living in NYC is the polar opposite of living [in NL]. Here in New York, you are an anonymous ant in a massive colony, skirting from place to place, elbowing your way through. In Newfoundland and Labrador, you are a member of the community. People will say hello and inevitably comment on the weather. They’ll smile and chat like you’re old friends.”

Bromley remembers visiting St. John’s a few years back and going through a drive-thru for a coffee.

“I’ll never forget, when I got up to the window the attendant gave me my coffee and said, ‘There you go, my love,’ and I just felt my shoulders drop and my forehead smooth out. It’s that gregarious familiarity that makes you know you’re home,” she says.

The staggeringly beautiful, rugged and always mystifying landscape is another magnet for errant Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

“I’ve walked the trails in and around Signal Hill for most of my adult life,” says Bromley. “There’s so much beauty in the seasonal changes. There are blue flag irises and lupins in the summer and the gold, red and fiery orange [foliage] in the fall. And then you turn a corner and the ocean is spread wide across the horizon. You really do feel like you’re at the edge of the world. You’re on the bare coast of the island but turn around and the city [of St. John’s] is laid out in front of you. It’s breathtaking.”

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Bromley recalls the first time she climbed Gros Morne Mountain in Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its breathtaking beauty.

“It poured rain, and the view I had been told would be worth the six-hour climb was nonexistent, shrouded in a pea soup layer of fog,” she recalls. “But [then] the rain paused and the breeze carried the grey veil up and away, and we just gasped. It was absolutely worth it.”

Inspiration from the ocean

Deantha Edmunds, Canada’s first and only Inuk classical singer, grew up in Corner Brook on the island’s west coast and currently lives in St. John’s. Although she has lived in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec for many years, she says she has never stopped calling Newfoundland and Labrador home.

Edmunds says nothing compares to watching the sun rise at Cape Spear or starting the day with a brisk walk around Quidi Vidi Lake with her mother.

“I love the sweet, salty air and being so close to the ocean, from which I draw much inspiration,” she says. “Being together here with my family is the most special. I love taking my daughter to the heart-shaped beach at Salmon Cove Sands in the summertime. To see her dancing in the waves brings me such joy.”

Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.