Icelandic Festival to host a very important guest

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This article was published 30/07/2018 (2972 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The new prime minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, will attend Íslendingadagurinn, the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba, to be held Aug. 3 to 6 in Gimli.

Jakobsdóttir, 42, is the head of Iceland’s Left-Green party and was elected prime minister in 2017. She’s known to be “just lovely and very intelligent and personable,” says Kristine Sigurdson, executive director of the festival.

Following the tradition of learning-by-visiting, she’s touring around the Interlake during her visit to Canada. Jakobsdóttir will tour White Rock on Willow Island — where the first Icelanders settled in 1875 — and will also visit the Icelandic Heritage Museum in Gimli, which tells the stories of the first immigants. She then will travel to Riverton — another Manitoba community with strong Icelandic roots.

She’ll take part in the parade on Aug. 6 along with this year’s Fjallkona (Maid of the Mountain) who this year is Wanda Anderson from Riverton. Anderson has volunteered frequently within Manitoba’s Icelandic community. The parade starts on 7th Avenue and will travel toward the harbour before moving on to Gimli Park.

On Saturday and Sunday, there are activities such as sand-castle building, concerts, beach volleyball and “fris nok” tournaments, plus a midway and many family activities. For the whole schedule visit icelandicfestival.com.

LA TREZ CUARTOZ: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, group La Trez Cuartoz played to a sold-out room of 200 at Sal Infantino’s giant X-Cues club on Sargent Avenue on July 26.

“The energy was palpable — and the passion mesmerizing,” said Winnipeg musician Ian Cameron. The band played for two hours, took a 10-minute break and then played another two hours.

And here’s the beautiful thing: they quietly donated the proceeds from ticket sales and the “tip pot” that they sent around the room to a family from Thompson with a four-year-old daughter who must come to Winnipeg for cancer treatments, after explaining that “gas was expensive in Canada to the family of this young girl.” Later, they called Winnipeg musicians Maria De Stefano and Ian Cameron up on stage to perform a few songs with them. “You guys are all heart!” Cameron said online the next day.

IMPRESSING THE RELATIVES: Summer with the Impressionists has turned out to be a mega hit. The world-class exhibition of paintings, sculptures and prints by the likes of Cezanne and Renoir at the Winnipeg Art Gallery will blow the minds of your visiting relatives and other visitors, no matter where they come from.

Some people take breaks while seeing the big exhibit with a snack or meal and refreshments in WAG’s rooftop restaurant, where you can gaze out at the sky. Then the visitors go back refreshed to see more masterpieces.

SUNDAY NIGHT SOLVED: When Sunday night rolls around and people in your charge need a change of pace, take them to Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club just as the evening cools off and the hot music starts. The doors open at about 8:30 p.m. and it’s a funky place that attracts music lovers of all ages.

Recording star Big Dave McLean hosts the Sunday night jam when he’s in town and starts the night off with a set that will blow your hair straight up. Then you’ll see him welcome musicians in the crowd onstage. Dave knows ‘em all.

SINGLES ALERT: Is your summer less than sizzling? You’re far from alone. This summer there’s such a demand from singles that a mid-summer join-up group starting in August has been set up by the 2,000-member Adventures for Successful Singles group. It will meet on Tuesday evenings, Aug. 7,14 and 21.

“It has attracted about 40 people already,” says founder Ray Antymis, whose group offers 50 activities and dances a month. The group gets together for four casual intro parties, splitting into small groups for discussions on sticky situations for singles and reporting back the answers to the gang — many of them hilarious. Call Ray at 204-775-3484 if you’re interested.

Got tips? Cool things happening in your world? Been rubbing shoulders with the stars? Know of new business and restaurants opening? Email Maureen’s Tips at mscurf@shaw.ca