Lummudagar 2011!

Mostly I have found Sauðárkrókur to be a quiet, sleepy little village by the sea, which mostly suits me to a tee...however the place certainly does comes alive for Lummudagar!  In the 9 months I have been here I have not seen so many people in the town at any one time.

 The car parks were full

 The free camping ground was full

 So full that people camped up on the hill

There was certainly a festive atmosphere around the town. The main street was closed to traffic on Saturday afternoon and stalls were set up along the footpaths the length of the old part of town.

Lummudagar is pancake pikelet day and you can stroll through the town and get your fill of free pikelets and coffee provided by various stall holders, groups and businesses.  There were competitions for the tastiest pikelets....I don't know who won but I thought the ones outside the florist were amazing.  

There is also a competition of the best decorated district.  Each area has a particular colour to decorate with...I live in the old part of town and our colour was blue.

 

 

 

I think this guy might have been giving the finger to the other districts in the competition.

Other areas up the hill were red and above them yellow.  Towns and farms within the Skagafjördur region also participated with Hofsós going purple, Hólar green, Varmalið orange and the farms pink.  Not sure of the outcome of the competition but it was fun to walk around town and see how people decorated their house and front yard.  Unfortunately I did not get to see the other areas and only have one photo from Gill's collection taken a few days before the event of an early bird in the yellow district.

 

Yellow district

The carnival atmosphere was in the air all Saturday, children of all ages were well catered for, 

there were jumping castles,

Go Cart rides

Lucky dips

and crane rides!

For older folk 

there were motorcycles,

music on rooftops

and markets galore

 where bargains could be found and tasty homemade food consumed.

 Of course I love a bargain or two ten.  I managed to get a couple of hats, a few scarves,  some woollen jumpers, one to wear and a couple to turn into cushion covers...all for around $18AUD.  The extra hats and scarves will come in handy when family are here over Christmas as I am pretty sure my sons will come very ill prepared for the winter.

I also bought my very first Icelandic antique...I never see anything very old for sale here but this day I came across a little hand carved wooden box, it is no bigger than an eyeglass case but is a lovely shape with great patina which felt beautifully smooth in my hands.  I paid approximately $17AUD...a bargain me thinks!

I have heard a rumour that the old post office has been nicknamed Australia as the other two properties on the street are known as Russia and Germany.  The flying of the Australian Flag on the front of the old Post Office on Lummudagur will possibly help cement the name into local folklore.  

The house on the left of this pic is the guesthouse Mikligarður otherwise known as Russia and you can read the history behind the nickname via the link.

and next door to Russia is the red house otherwise known as Germany 

(I have no idea why, when I find out I will let you know).

For more great pics of Lummudagur 2011 which showcase the carnival atmosphere 

(far better than mine), check out the gallery on Feykir the local area newspaper.