Mýrarboltinn, or Mud-Football is a weekend-long event in Ísafjörður town in the Westfjords of Iceland. It is a 6-a-side football match, but played in a quicksand of mud.
In addition to the football there are numerous concerts and live music acts during the weekend.
Teams are generally made up of groups of friends, many of whom who have put serious effort into creating team uniforms to show up in. But if you’re without a team, it’s no problem! You can either just be a less-muddy spectator, or send a quick email to the organizers and ask to join a catch-all team, as they call it, “a collection of oddballs both from Iceland and around the world”. Registration is open.
Now, everything comes with a price-tag. To fully participate in the weekend’s festivities and be a member of a team, the tickets/wristbands are sold at ISK 10,000 – but for those who care to be spectators and avoid getting mud up their nose, the wristband comes at ISK 8,000- and includes entry to all the clubs so that you don’t miss out on the cleaner (literally) parts of the weekend’s festivities.
As in regular football games, there are rules in mud-football and although they are similar, they certainly aren’t the same. Now, if someone gets hurt (let’s hope accidentally!) the person causing the pain will be issued a pink-card and asked to kiss the booboo. If a player commits a severe foul, he is given a black-card and required to continue playing on the pitch wearing a black head-bag for a total of two minutes. Pushing and pulling, for the sake of the game, is encouraged.
Now, if you’re ready for a truly dirty weekend in Iceland, don’t hesitate to sign up for Mýrarbolti. And bring duct tape. Your shoes don’t stay on in the mud unless they’re taped to your feet.
Mýrarboltinn, or Mud-Football is a weekend-long event in Ísafjörður town in the Westfjords of Iceland. It is a 6-a-side football match, but played in a quicksand of mud.
In addition to the football there are numerous concerts and live music acts during the weekend.
Teams are generally made up of groups of friends, many of whom who have put serious effort into creating team uniforms to show up in. But if you’re without a team, it’s no problem! You can either just be a less-muddy spectator, or send a quick email to the organizers and ask to join a catch-all team, as they call it, “a collection of oddballs both from Iceland and around the world”. Registration is open.
Now, everything comes with a price-tag. To fully participate in the weekend’s festivities and be a member of a team, the tickets/wristbands are sold at ISK 10,000 – but for those who care to be spectators and avoid getting mud up their nose, the wristband comes at ISK 8,000- and includes entry to all the clubs so that you don’t miss out on the cleaner (literally) parts of the weekend’s festivities.
As in regular football games, there are rules in mud-football and although they are similar, they certainly aren’t the same. Now, if someone gets hurt (let’s hope accidentally!) the person causing the pain will be issued a pink-card and asked to kiss the booboo. If a player commits a severe foul, he is given a black-card and required to continue playing on the pitch wearing a black head-bag for a total of two minutes. Pushing and pulling, for the sake of the game, is encouraged.
Now, if you’re ready for a truly dirty weekend in Iceland, don’t hesitate to sign up for Mýrarbolti. And bring duct tape. Your shoes don’t stay on in the mud unless they’re taped to your feet.
