Nordic Sailing, Coastal & Cultural festival

WORK/PROJECT: SEEDS volunteers will be working on a coastal cultural festival in the North of Iceland. All in all the festivities will last for nine days, with seminars, lectures, courses and exhibits. Furthermore there will be markets every day with food and handicrafts; music, dance and plays. We will be a part of the diverse preparations and assisting during the festival. Our project will involve putting up exhibitions related to the sailing and coastal culture in the area, greeting incoming ships and putting up the exhibitions that they carry. We will be building a boat shelter in a historical way and some of the work will involve a few nightshifts watching the exhibition area on the pier. We will also be assisting the guest with information regarding the festival and the area and some of us might take shifts in the festival-info office. A festival needs many hands to do many different things, and we need to be very flexible and willing to jump into the diverse task that our hosts might need assistance with.

ACCOMMODATION: We will be hosted in a local school, sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Please bring your own sleeping bag. Food ingredients will be provided and a nice kitchen will be available. We will share the duties of cooking and cleaning. Sometimes during this period, we might get food from the festivals canteen. Please do not forget some traditional/typical food from your home country for the international evening.

LOCATION: The project will take place in the North of Iceland in one of the largest towns in the area. The town used to bustle with life around the fishermen, but now most of the bustle is due to the whale-watching industry. Some say this is the best place in Iceland to see whales.

The town church was built 1907 and is by many regarded as the most beautiful church in the country. As in most populated places in Iceland there is a nice geothermal swimming pool in town, and many nice hiking opportunities.

One of the oldest cared for birch forest in the country is in the area with the tallest and straightest birch trees in Iceland. The forest was bought and protected in 1905 and the work has been continuous ever since.

Close by we will find the largest continuous woodland in Iceland, reaching from Háls at the western part of Ljósavatnsskarð and south to Belgsá, and it is spreading. In the valley flows Fnjóská, regarded by many as the most beautiful fishing river in Iceland. There are many marked hiking routes in the area and museums of nature, culture and trees.

We will be close to many of the most beautiful places in Iceland, like Mýatn, Dimmuborgir, Goðafoss and Ásbyrgi -a huge horseshoe shaped cliff face, reputedly a hoof print made by the Norse god Odin's eight-legged horse.

LANGUAGE: English will be the official language in the camp; high proficiency is not a requirement.

TERMINAL: Closest International Airport: Keflavík/Reykjavík (KEF). Closest Domestic Airport: Akureyri (AEY), closest bus stations in Akureyri or Húsavík.

EXTRAS / SPECIAL REMARKS: Participation fee EUR 180.

Volunteers applying for this project should be motivated to work with people in outdoor activities and be prepared for a flexible time schedule.

AGE: +20