Easter 2010, April 1-5.

Aldrei Fór Ég Suður is a yearly music festival in Ísafjörður, in the north west of iceland. I've written about it before. It is awesome. It is a spectacular festival of local pride, smiling, wool and hell of a lot of music. And often snow. Who says festivals have to be in summer? This one takes place in a temporarily converted fish shed, cold concrete floor, usually snow outside, and just body heat to warm the place up.

But it's warm enough. Warmer than any fun in the sun massive commercial festival. Warm with the glow of everyone being friends. Warm with the glow of every musician playing for free. Warm with the glow of the whole event being free. Warm with a belly full of plokkfisk (fish and potato stew) and beer. Warm.

It truly is a magnificent show, with all the bands sharing the same equipment, no soundcheck, just on, rock out, and get off again. The styles are as diverse as the crowd, with Lay Low's folk followed directly by Biogen's throbbing pulsating electro madness, and both being equally well received by the crowd of kids on shoulders, grandmas, teenagers trying to score smokes and adults of every age in between.

I wasn't feeling very photographically inclined this trip, despite taking a whole mountain of camera gear with me, but my friends took enough for us all :)

My friends, like any good trip, are what really makes it. Viðar, who's grandfather loaned us the farm for the weekend, Brynja, Bjöggi and Ásta, Tóta and Bel. And a whole heap of food. And don't forget easter eggs! And snow. Lots of snow. White fluffy stuff. Perfect for rolling in, perfect for sledding on, perfect for blanketing the world in soft sweet whiteness, and perfect for fluttering down gently on a nose, pink in the cold of night.

Trying to write further would only do injustice to the pieces left out, and would likely never capture the moment well enough anyway. The pictures here are just a taste of the weekend.