The song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, refer to this holiday. Traditionally, Twelfth Night is January 6 and marks the end of the Christmas Season. If you take down your Christmas decorations prior to this time, you are considered like Scrooge and not enjoying the full holiday. In Newfoundland, you can go mummering any time during the Twelve Days of Christmas. Gary says mummering is basically a semi-Halloween experience during Christmas.
People dress up in costumes and try to camouflage who they are.
They stop at neighbors homes and knock on the door. The neighbors let them in and try to guess who they are. While they are guessing, they feed them, give them a drink, dance a few jigs or reels with them, then send them on their way. Men may dress as women or women may dress as men. Often sweaters are put on over heavy winter coats to help conceal the identity of the mummerer.