Local festival in the East fjords

WORK/PROJECT: Our host is a non-profit organization that runs a technical artifact museum in the East of Iceland. The museum's main focus is on the influx of modern technology in Iceland between 1880 and 1950.

This project is in collaboration with the museum’s annual Blacksmith Festival. The festival is a gathering for professionals as well as for the general public to have a good time, enjoying activities such as music, dancing and dining, as well as lively exhibitions and education. The festival offers a number of courses including elementary blacksmithing, knife-making, whittling, metal casting and advanced blacksmith work.

The main work of the SEEDS volunteers will be to construct the festival site including the kitchen, tent, and guest facilities. Volunteers will also help clean and maintain the area during the festival, assist with surveillance of the museum’s houses, and guide guests around the site.

Volunteers will also help to prepare food, as well as sell food and alcohol. For that reason, the minimum age limit of volunteers is 20 years of age. Lastly, volunteers will help take down the festival site and clean the area.

Weather conditions in Iceland are unpredictable, so be prepared to experience all kinds of weather and be sure to bring warm clothing since most of the work will take place outdoors.

ACCOMMODATION: SEEDS volunteers will be hosted in a local house, and will sleep on mattresses or in beds. It’s a possibility that the volunteers will sleep in tents for the first three nights. Please bring your own sleeping bag.

Volunteers will receive food ingredients and access to a kitchen, and will be in charge of cooking and cleaning. Do not forget to bring some traditional/typical food from your home country for the international evening.

LOCATION: The festival is located in the town of Seyðisfjörður, which is surrounded by mountains, streams and waterfalls. The town has developed a reputation in the past few years for excellent artistic and cultural activities. Seyðisfjörður is famous for Norwegian-style wooden houses and an international ferry.

Seyðisfjörður is a part of the East Fjords, which cover a 120 km stretch of eastern Iceland’s twisted coastline. Many of the fjords have small villages, mostly dedicated to fishing. The fjord scenery can be vivid, particularly in summer, with the villages sitting between the flat blue sea and steep, steel-grey mountains, their peaks dusted in snow and lower slopes covered in greenery and flowers.

LANGUAGE: English will be the language in the camp; basic conversational skills are needed.

TERMINAL: Closest international Airport: Keflavík/Reykjavík (KEF).

SEEDS organizes a “minibus option”, a shared transport from Reykjavík to the camps and back. Apart from being cheap and convenient, it allows volunteers to meet fellow campers and have a relaxed trip, while stopping on the way for interesting sites.

EXTRAS / SPECIAL REMARKS: The participation fee is EUR 200 (Euros). Please note that this fee is to be paid to SEEDS on arrival in either Euros or Icelandic kronas.

Volunteers will get free access to LUNGA festival, which is another festival in the area during the first weekend of the workcamp. This is an art- and music festival for young people.

The volunteers will also receive guidance around the museum and be informed about the history of the place. Volunteers will get free access to the local pool during their stay.

If you take SEEDS minibus option to and from the camp location, you will be able to go all around Iceland, as we drive different ways (either North or South) to and from the camp.

Age: 20+