Earths and Heavens: Battling Darth Vader in Hafnarfjörður

Homelands and heavens in Hafnarfjörður!

Hundreds, if not thousands, are expected when guests and beneficiaries are invited to step into a world of adventure. The costume and games gathering, Home and Heavens. The festival is held at Hafnarfjörður Library. 30th August to 1st September.

„The fancy dress industry is about giving a damn to stereotypes. Stepping out of reality and into an imaginary world, shaped and tailored as each individual chooses,“ says Unnur Helga Möller, Events Manager at Hafnarfjörður Library. She is ambitious and, with the seven groups behind the festival, plans to rebuild a Star Wars spaceship on the first floor and set up a fantasy pub on the third. And that's not all.

„Rimmugýgur will be outside the library with a Viking battle, Hema Reykjavík will have historical sword fighting and the Laser Sword Society will turn up with their laser swords. They are then going to fight Darth Vader, who people will of course know from Star Wars,“ says Unnur Helga.

Three-day festival

The event runs for three days. There is plenty to see and do. Workshops will be held throughout. Here you can learn, among other things, how to make swords and costumes, take cosplay photographs and write in a medieval style. A competition for the best cosplay costumes will be held on 31 August. The head judge is NCC Iceland winner, Jessica Chambers, who will be judging in three categories: junior, open, and advanced.

„The competition is open to all and the three categories are to ensure a fair assessment of different levels of skill and experience,“ says Unnur Helga.

Unnur Helga Möller is the backbone of the Heimar and himingeamar festival, which will be held at Hafnarfjörður Library from 31 August to 1 September. Seeing is believing.

Smithies for armour and weapons

A foam-weapon forge will be set up, also known as foam weapons or LARP weapons. You will also be able to take part in a workshop where a LARP costume is made in a quarter of an hour. „You can sign up and step onto the battlefield where you can fight with the larp weapons, for both children and adults,“ she says.

Unnur says the cosplay community is one of the most fun things there is. Large groups have a second life in their costumes, stepping out of reality and into a world shaped by their own imaginations.

People find their inner man

„The fancy dress business is about giving a damn about stereotypes,“ she says. „And you don't have to be in nerdy stuff like the rest of us; if you want to be Kate Bush or straight out of Flashdance, that's perfectly fine. Life is a stage, clothes make the man, and you're never too old to play,“ she says, but she herself has been playing role-playing games since she was sixteen and has been in the costume business for about a decade.

„This is so much fun, and what's the point of doing something if it's not fun?“ asks Unnur.

„Come and join in! We're going to immerse ourselves in everything fun about costumes: from film costumes to LARP fantasy attire, to historical re-enactment. Japanese cosplay, prop-making, buffer weapons, historical fencing, laser sword fighting… just everything, and you're welcome to join in!“

Open:

• Friday 30 August 2024, 17:00–20:00
• Saturday 31 August 2024, 11:00–20:00
• Sunday 01.09.24 from 11:00 to 14:00

And of course, it goes without saying that everyone, yes, everyone is encouraged to come in fancy dress!

• Boffer workshop here
• Cosplay competition here
• Cosplay posing here
• Braiding here
• Boffer workshop here
• Medieval ornamental script here
• Larp suit in a quarter of an hour here