Icelandic pride on display in Gimli
Festival works to keep violence from event
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/08/2013 (4426 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Gimli was filled on the weekend with Viking aficionados homesteading a temporary village and re-enacting battles at this year’s 124th annual Icelandic Festival of Manitoba’s living history exhibit. But Vikings weren’t the only ones roaming the streets.
Visitors also included the newly elected Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, his wife Anna Palsdottir, Iceland’s ambassador to Canada, Thordur Oskarsson, and Canada’s ambassador to Iceland, Stewart Wheeler. Guests who attended the event had a chance to meet the prime minister and the ambassadors, who addressed the crowd Monday in a traditional ceremony.
“We want to show hospitality with everyone, not just people of Icelandic backgrounds,” said Kathi Neal, past president of the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba. “We want people to embrace their inner Viking.”
The Icelandic Festival, one of the oldest ongoing ethnic festivals in North America, began Friday afternoon and went until Monday evening. Between 30,000 and 50,000 people took part, an average turnout for the Manitoba festival.
The Gimli RCMP detachment said it was a safe weekend. Violence at the festival became an issue four years ago when Martyn Hendy was killed by two 19-year-olds during a street fight during the festival’s 120th year.
“Families and people in the community were deeply affected by it, but we want the event to be very family focused,” said Neal.
“We wanted to make sure that alcohol was not the central feature at our events this year,” said Neal. “The community put on events that were as safe as possible. Most of our events shut down by 11 p.m.”
As well as the usual array of crafters assembling jewelry, this year’s festival introduced events such as Beach Ball Zumba and skateboarding demonstrations. They also had Icelandic artists, such as Snorri Helgason, who performed all weekend.
elizabeth.fraser@freepress.mb.ca
History
Updated on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 7:48 AM CDT: adds slideshow