The attendance record of the annual Westman Islands’ Merchant’s Weekend festival, Thjódhátíd, was broken for the second year in a row last weekend. This year, between 13,500 and 14,000 people attended the festival.
From the Westman Islands. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
Outdoor music and family festivals are held in various locations in Iceland during the Merchant’s Weekend, the first weekend of August, and Thjódhátíd is the oldest and largest festival.
The organizer of Tjódhátíd 2009, Tryggvi Már Saemundsson, told Morgunbladid that significantly more people attended the festival this year than in 2008, when approximately 13,000 festival goers visited the Westman Islands.
Around 4,000 people live in the Westman Islands, so the number of inhabitants more than tripled during Thjódhátíd this year.
Saemundsson said that more white tents had been erected than last year as well, a total of 352, where locals offer visitors delicacies such as puffin and lamb stew. The organization of the festival was considered successful and the weather was good the entire weekend.
Click here to read about the Merchants’ Holiday.
