A two-day music and arts festival inspired by the Sagas of Icelanders will take place for the first time this spring. Saga Fest is organised by an international group of people located outside and in Iceland. Iceland Insider spoke to Katrin Weiser from Germany, who is one of the organisers.
Why stage the festival in Iceland?
Iceland with it’s Sagas, the very unique landscape as well as the eclectic music and arts scene, offers the perfect conditions for an event like Saga Fest, that, based on the Sagas of Icelanders, fosters vulnerability in sharing personal stories and promotes sustainable living while having a great time with other people, experience art and listen to some wonderful music.
The goal of the festival is to bring people together, to help participants re-connect to themselves, each other and nature. Therefore we decided to host the festival outside of the capital area, on a farm that is located in a region often featured in the Sagas of Icelanders and a place that focuses on wetlands restoration and is committed to a sustainable living – With Stokkseyrarsel we found the perfect place for the inaugural festival in May.
Have you done something like this anywhere else?
We have people in the organising team who are experienced in the planning of other festivals. However, the concept of Saga Fest is very new and unique and it will be the first time for most of our team members to be part of such a project. Therefore we are all really excited and more than passionate about our first ever festival.
Do you have any locals on the organising team?
Yes, the Saga Fest team is actually very international. We have locals from Reykjavík and the farm Stokkseyrarsel itself, as well as team members that are originally from Hawaii, Germany and the US. We embrace the cultural variety and also see the importance to have locals in the team, to ensure a great bonding with the people around Selfoss/Eyrarbakki & the festival site, as we want them to be part of the Saga Fest community.
We’re also working closely with Iceland’s leading environmental management and conservation NGO Landvernd, to ensure that we’re designing and keeping the whole festival as sustainable as possible.
Are you aiming for this to become an annual event?
We would love Saga Fest to become an annual event. Emphasising on sustainability when it comes to all the things that are going to be changed, developed and built at the festival site, it is definitely our goal that these things can be used throughout the festival by the farm owners and on an annual basis at upcoming Saga Fests.
Also the personal experiences of the people attending Saga Fest are supposed to have a transformative and enduring effect. Therefore it would be great if the attending people could gather year after year to share their stories with each other again.
Is it a family affair or more of a music festival, with all crazy good and bad things included?
Saga Fest is music and arts festival. Music and arts should be for everyone and so is Saga Fest. We would love to see families around! Bring your children, do some yoga and jam sessions with us, check out the local pop-up farmers market, the workshops in the geodesic domes, let’s create art – all together! In the evening you should feel free to have a drink (may it be alcoholic or non-alcoholic), enjoy some great music and dance as if no one is watching. We believe that all the people attending will appreciate and most of all respect the ideas of Saga Fest, to re-connect to nature, themselves and the with the community, to make this a very unique and special gathering.
Read more: Love peace and happiness at Saga music and arts festival
The Saga Fest is taking place May 23rd to May 24th on Stokkseyrarsel farm in South Iceland, close to town Selfoss and villages Eyrarbakki and Stokkseyri. You can buy a ticket to the festival at Midi.is
A two-day music and arts festival inspired by the Sagas of Icelanders will take place for the first time this spring. Saga Fest is organised by an international group of people located outside and in Iceland. Iceland Insider spoke to Katrin Weiser from Germany, who is one of the organisers.
Why stage the festival in Iceland?
Iceland with it’s Sagas, the very unique landscape as well as the eclectic music and arts scene, offers the perfect conditions for an event like Saga Fest, that, based on the Sagas of Icelanders, fosters vulnerability in sharing personal stories and promotes sustainable living while having a great time with other people, experience art and listen to some wonderful music.
The goal of the festival is to bring people together, to help participants re-connect to themselves, each other and nature. Therefore we decided to host the festival outside of the capital area, on a farm that is located in a region often featured in the Sagas of Icelanders and a place that focuses on wetlands restoration and is committed to a sustainable living – With Stokkseyrarsel we found the perfect place for the inaugural festival in May.
Have you done something like this anywhere else?
We have people in the organising team who are experienced in the planning of other festivals. However, the concept of Saga Fest is very new and unique and it will be the first time for most of our team members to be part of such a project. Therefore we are all really excited and more than passionate about our first ever festival.
Do you have any locals on the organising team?
Yes, the Saga Fest team is actually very international. We have locals from Reykjavík and the farm Stokkseyrarsel itself, as well as team members that are originally from Hawaii, Germany and the US. We embrace the cultural variety and also see the importance to have locals in the team, to ensure a great bonding with the people around Selfoss/Eyrarbakki & the festival site, as we want them to be part of the Saga Fest community.
We’re also working closely with Iceland’s leading environmental management and conservation NGO Landvernd, to ensure that we’re designing and keeping the whole festival as sustainable as possible.
Are you aiming for this to become an annual event?
We would love Saga Fest to become an annual event. Emphasising on sustainability when it comes to all the things that are going to be changed, developed and built at the festival site, it is definitely our goal that these things can be used throughout the festival by the farm owners and on an annual basis at upcoming Saga Fests.
Also the personal experiences of the people attending Saga Fest are supposed to have a transformative and enduring effect. Therefore it would be great if the attending people could gather year after year to share their stories with each other again.
Is it a family affair or more of a music festival, with all crazy good and bad things included?
Saga Fest is music and arts festival. Music and arts should be for everyone and so is Saga Fest. We would love to see families around! Bring your children, do some yoga and jam sessions with us, check out the local pop-up farmers market, the workshops in the geodesic domes, let’s create art – all together! In the evening you should feel free to have a drink (may it be alcoholic or non-alcoholic), enjoy some great music and dance as if no one is watching. We believe that all the people attending will appreciate and most of all respect the ideas of Saga Fest, to re-connect to nature, themselves and the with the community, to make this a very unique and special gathering.
Read more: Love peace and happiness at Saga music and arts festival
The Saga Fest is taking place May 23rd to May 24th on Stokkseyrarsel farm in South Iceland, close to town Selfoss and villages Eyrarbakki and Stokkseyri. You can buy a ticket to the festival at Midi.is
