An interesting story in old houses – Christmas at the open-air museum

Christmas at the Hafnarfjörður Folk Museum

Those planning to visit Hellisgerði before Christmas to see the wonderful decorations should pop in at Hafnarfjörður Museum of Local History. It is just as decorated, with interesting indoor displays for all ages. Björn Pétursson, the town's curator of heritage, says that beautiful Christmas decorations have been put on the outside of the building. There is a special Christmas display at Beggubúð, which houses a shop museum exhibition that has been given a festive touch. The Folk Museum consists of six houses, but at the Folk Museum Square stand the Pakkhús, the Sívertsens-hús and Beggubúð.

^{A fun Christmas show is held at the folk museum for nursery school children during Advent.}

Three exhibitions are currently on display in the Packhouse at the Folk Museum Square. 

There are three exhibitions on display in the Packhouse. The permanent exhibition is titled 'This is how it was...' and tells the story of Hafnarfjörður and its surroundings from the settlement period to the present day. On the top floor is the museum's toy exhibition, especially for children, as the Folk Museum preserves a large collection of toys, part of which is on display. The current themed exhibition in the foyer is about 'The Corner Shop'. During Advent, Father Christmas himself makes himself at home in the Sívertsens' House and welcomes with joy the happy and excited children who take part in the museum's nursery school programme.

„Nursery school children in Hafnarfjörður arrive in groups of 20 every hour while the Father Christmas is in the house. First, the children are given a guided tour of the houses and hear about Christmas in the old days and the family who lived there. Then, at the end, Father Christmas appears, and it's very popular. This has been a tradition at the museum for many years.“ says Björn, pointing out that it's fun to look at the houses both inside and out. „The museum is open when the Christmas village is running and entry is always free. The Christmas village attracts people from all over the capital region and other places, and we get visitors from far and wide. In late summer, we noticed an increase in foreign tourists, and that is still the case.“ says Björn.

A fun Christmas show is held at the folk museum for nursery school children during Advent.

„The themed exhibition at the Packhouse is called “The Corner Shop' and we have made it festive for Christmas. The exhibition covers the history and development that began in retail practices in Hafnarfjörður in the 1920s, which arguably evolved into a situation where small grocery shops were on almost every street corner in the town. Before then, almost all retail in the town had been in the hands of a very few, but towards the end of the 1920s, this change occurred in Hafnarfjörður's retail scene. The toy exhibition on the upper floor always attracts a great deal of attention from children and adults alike." Björn says further.

Cafés all around, where you can sit down in between exploring the area.

The Hafnarfjörður Folk Museum's warehouse is open from 11 am to 5 pm every Saturday and Sunday during Advent. A short distance from the museum, on Strandstígur, you can see an exhibition of over 50 photographs on 20 panels about the history of Bæjarútgerð Hafnarfjarðar, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary. All exhibitions at the Folk Museum are free of charge.

An advertisement appeared in the Fréttablaðið on 4 December 2021.