Irish days in Akranes July 2-4 2010
The festival “Irish days” in Akranes takes place annualy the first weekend of july. Akranes is a town located near to Reykjavík on the South-West corner of Iceland. The reason for why we have Irish days here is that the town was founded by Irish brothers – Þormóður and Ketill Bresasons shortly after 880. They came to Akranes with their grown children and other people. Their wifes are not mentioned in the sagas. The brothers were both born and raised in Ireland, but their family was originally from Norway.
When they came to Akranes a man named Hrosskell already lived there with his son, Hallkell. But the Bresasons forced them to leave.
Two other Irish men are also mentioned in the sagas. One was named Bekan. He built a house and called the place Bekanstaðir. The other one was named Kalman. He didn´t stay here for long though because he moved to Kalmanstunga after his two sons drowned in Hvalfjörður (Whale fjord). Later Kalman himself drowned in Hvítá when he was on his way to meet his mistress.
It´s also interesting that one of Ketil´s descendants is Þorgeir Hávarsson; one of the main character in Fóstbræðrasaga that the Nobel winning Icelandic author Halldór Laxness later wrote about in his book Gerpla.
The Irish days have gotten bigger and bigger each year. Last year ten thousand people came to visit and almost every single one of the 6 thousand inhabitants took part in the festival.
Friday evening neighbours gather on the streets for a Street BBQ, some streets may be closed for traffic because of this event. The people of Akranes decorate their houses, gardens and streets with irish flags and other decorative things, all in orange, green and white so the town gets its irish look.
During the Saturday there is a program from dusk til dawn. One of Iceland´s greatest beaches is in Akranes (Langisandur) and the whole area surrounding the beach is crowded with people and exciting activities.Every year there are three contests; a fishing contest, a sandcastle building contest and a contest we have named “The most redheaded Icelander”.
Saturday evening a big dance is held in an old cement storage next to the harbour where some of the nations most popular mucisians perform. Lopapeysan (Wool sweater) as the dance is called has become one of the biggest dances in Iceland.
On Sunday a family event is sceduled in Garðalundur, a small forest area close to the Akranes Museum are. Well known Icelandic children entertainers will perform along with musical acts and games for the whole family.
You can find photos from Irish Day's festivals here: http://www.akranes.is/ljosmyndasafn/. In the middle where it says “Veljið flokk” you just pick “Írskir dagar”.
If you need more information give us a call or write us an e-mail! We´ll be glad to help you.
Welcome to Irish days in Akranes!
Here you can find the schedule of Irish Days events
Tómas Guðmundsson – +354 433 1000 – tomas@akranes.is