In a post last February titled “World’s Greatest Parties” we briefly mentioned a very oddly named festival held every summer in Iceland.
At the time I wrote the post, I remember not being able to dig up much information about this particular party. There was some websites in Icelandic, but alomst no accounts by foreigners who actually venture out this far.
I was therefore pleased to run across a rather impressive account of a foreigner (Irish, in this case) who has actually witnessed this spectacular event.
Graham Little, writing for the Sunday Times, traveled to the Westman Island Music Festival last summer and returned to tell tales of Viking-like debauchery that occurred within a volcanic crater nestled amongst a remote string of islands otherwise inhabited by puffins.
8,000 inebriated Icelanders come here for three days of music, drinking, and, according to Little, lots of “writhing, conjoined” activity. My favorite quote; “Venturing too far up the steep slopes of the old volcano is like walking through the middle of the mountain-goat breeding season.”
To keep things moving right along, self-appointed “Sleep Police” shake awake anyone caught sleeping and force a shot of vodka down their throats. Although 21 hours of sunlight a day help keep the Sleep Police at Bay, Little was still plied full of alcohol, sleep deprived, thoroughly exhausted, and desperate to go home by the end of the festival–and all this from an Irishman! You just know things are out of hand when the Irish go fleeing a booze bash!
This year’s festival occurs August 4-7.