Various venues in Gimli |  August 2-5
Various prices, many free events
Regular parking rules apply
icelandicfestival.com

Have you ever wanted to be a viking? Alternatively, have you ever dreamt of witnessing a viking reenactment? Well, now’s your chance.
Since 1890, the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba – otherwise known as Islendingadagurinn – has been held in Gimli, and marks a celebration of Nordic culture which draws over 50,000 visitors over the weekend of August 2-5.

Now in its 124th year, the Icelandic Festival has always been, in the words of past president Kathi Thorarinson-Neal, “a day for people with Icelandic descent to celebrate their culture and share it with others, falling on the day that a new constitution was accepted which made Iceland an independent nation.”

While a lot has changed since the late-nineteenth century, Islendingadagurinn still features traditional parades, speaking programs and guests and dignitaries from Iceland who address their Western counterparts during a fun weekend for all ages.

“It allows people to unleash their inner-viking,” Thorainson-Neal says.

At little to no cost to patrons, the highly-accessible Islendingadagurinn boasts an authentic 800 AD-era viking encampment, and encourages people of all ages to participate in historically-accurate arts and crafts, jewelry-making, weaving and, of course, (reenacted) battle!

Icelandic food such as rullupylsa (a rolled, pickled and boiled sheep’s flank) and vinatarta, a regional brand of Christmas cake, is also offered, giving those unfamiliar with North-Atlantic cuisine a taste of something markedly different.

For younger guests who might be frightened by the prospect of a marauding viking force, there’s ‘Kiddy Vike,’ a chance for youths to sport less-threatening plastic swords and enjoy an educational walkthrough of medieval battle tactics.

While Gimli may be familiar to many Winnipegers, Islendingadagurinn is an excellent opportunity to absorb the cultural essence and spirit of the Icelandic community that inhabits it, because beyond the prototypical expectation of horned helmets and axes, there’s much, much more to experience at the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba.

Part of the series: Summer Festival Guide 2013

Published in Volume 67, Number 27 of The Uniter (July 17, 2013)