The ancient marketplace Gásir in Eyjafjördur, close to Akureyri in north Iceland, will come alive this weekend. From July 16 to 19, handcrafters dressed in medieval fashion will demonstrate ironwork and other crafts, an old-fashioned ballgame will be played and spear fighters will put on a show.
From Gásir in Eyjafjördur. Photo by Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir.
Also, the longship Vésteinn will sail into the fjord and offer visitors sailing trips, and there will be guided tours around the archeological remains in the area, as stated on gasir.is.
The annual Skálholt Festival will take place at the ancient bishopric in south Iceland this upcoming weekend. The program will be related to the concert series Skálholt Summer Concerts, which will continue through August 7, and the honoring of late Bishop Dr. Sigurbjörn Einarsson’s (1911-2008) centennial anniversary, as it says on skalholt.is.
Meanwhile, annual pier festivals will take place both in Drangsnes in the eastern West Fjords and Stokkseyri in the south this weekend. Both festivals include food, including seafood tasting in Drangsnes, music and boat trips. And in Húsavík, northeast Iceland, the traveling Nordic coastal culture festival Sail Húsavík will open.
As a special feature this year, a boat will depart from the harbor in Hvammstangi in northwest Iceland at 4 pm on Saturday and set sail for Drangsnes.
Musicians and singers will be onboard to entertain passengers; the trip is scheduled to take 2.5 hours. In Drangsnes, guests will be welcomed with grilled legs of lamb, as stated on nordanatt.is.
The pier festival in Stokkseyri actually kicked off on July 14 and will carry on through to July 17. In addition to the aforementioned items, the program will also include an exhibition of paintings by Pétur Behrens.
One of the festival’s highlights was last night with an entertainment program for the entire family at the town’s seaside.
Click here to read more about the festival in Húsavík and here to watch an audio slideshow from an earlier medieval market at Gásir.
ESA
