Thursday, May 27, 2010

more fun with Craigslist

Things have gotten weird and Nordic here on Cleveland Love recently.

But if you want a "volunteer" opportunity to be a Viking, here's your chance.

>>> Viking festival - an amazing volunteer opportunity in Iceland
Date: 2010-05-24, 3:01PM EDT
Reply to: comm-xeqgn-1757275963@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Viking Festival
COME JOIN US
June 6 - June 23, 2010

During the annual Viking Festival, which will trake place from the 11th until the 20th of June, Icelanders and "Vikings" from abroad celebrate their heritage. The Vikings settled Iceland around 874 AD and the Icelanders are very proud of those brave people who had the courage to start a life here in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Vikings' wild and adventurous spirit lives on today, in the people of this unique country. In Hafnarfjörður there is a small Viking village where the volunteer project will take place.

The event is a lot of fun; there are displays of ancient arts and crafts, and large gruff men in full Viking attire demonstrate their ancient battle skills to anyone brave enough to challenge them.

The volunteers will help with the preparation before the festival and afterwards help the organizers to run the festival. You will receive Viking costumes to wear and different tasks to perform. Tasks will vary and include controlling the venues, giving assistance to visitors, helping the other Viking volunteers and staff in the kitchen or serving the meals. Working hours are flexible and in this project it is important to be very flexible as well. Sometimes the festival is very chaotic but the old Vikings were also known for lack of organization so that is a part of the programme.

Apart from our group of Vikings, there will be around 120 more Viking volunteers coming from all around the world! A big collection of artists will be at the Festival: warriors, bowmen, wrestlers, woodcarvers, stonemasons, blacksmiths, storytellers and enchantresses, musicians and magicians. The working hours are not completely fixed and they will be established according to the different phases of the festival.



Location: Hafnarfjörður is a town with population of 23.500 people. It is located 10 km away from the capital, Reykjavík. Hafnarfjörður takes its name (meaning Harbour-fjord) from the area's excellent natural harbour. The town is first named in the medieval "Book of Settlements," and the earliest reports of voyages to Hafnarfjörður date from the end of the 14th century. Today, Hafnarfjörður is one of the nation's largest fishing centres and the site of Iceland's first fish wholesalers' auction market.

Hafnarfjördur is famous for having one of Iceland’s largest settlements of elves, dwarves and other mystical beings, which are usually called ‘Hidden Folk.’ Centuries-old folklore has it that whole clans of such beings reside in the rocks that make up part of the town’s centre. We do not doubt this at all. Though elves are visible only to those with second sight, a great many Icelanders believe in their existence. Indeed, there is much evidence to support this belief, as stories abound of instances where new roads or housing developments were under construction and strange happenings took place. Hidden Folk enjoy a certain regard, and nowhere more so than in Hafnarfjördur. There is even a Hidden Worlds tour that takes you to their home sites, stopping at places like Hellisgerdi Park and the base of the cliff Hamarinn, which is said to be home to the Royal Family of the Hidden Folk. Along the way, the guide relates ancient folk tales of the magical hidden worlds and describes how the town grew and developed in harmony with the Hidden Folk.

Project language: English
Age range: 18 and over

More information and enrollment: www.cadip.org/volunteer-in-iceland.htm

For volunteer opportunities in other countries please go to: www.cadip.org or give us a call: 617-502-0400 (US); 604-628-7400 (Canada)

1 comment:

Randal Graves said...

I've always wanted to visit Iceland, now I've got a chance to hack some invading hordes to pieces, as well.