Magnus Dahl to open Ljósfest festival in hometown Vágur

Magnus Dahl will open this year’s Ljósfest festival in his hometown of Vágur, Kringvarp Føroya reported. He is the grandson of Petur Dahl, who gave the speech at the first festival in 1921, when the Botni power station was commissioned.

Ljósfest, organised by Vágur Municipality, will take place this weekend. The programme includes several art exhibitions, musical performances, a market, pony rides, children’s entertainment with Trøllapætur, a large fireworks display organised by the New Year’s committee, Sunday school and a community meeting.

Dahl was born in Vágur and is the son of Jákup and Edith Dahl. His grandfather Petur Dahl was chairman of the parish council and one of the leading figures behind the Botni power station. He also delivered the speech at the first Ljósfest on 18 July 1921, when the power station was put into operation.

Now, 105 years later, his grandson will open the festival in Vágur. Dahl, who lives abroad, said he was pleased to return home for the occasion.

“It is a great honour to be asked to open this important event, which matters to the village, and to highlight the history of the power station and energy production in Suðuroy,” he said.

Dahl has lived in Denmark throughout his adult life. He studied psychology and biology at the University of Copenhagen and worked as a psychology lecturer at Roskilde University from 1995 to 2020. He remains active there as a docent emeritus and is working on a project about the development of animal life, from the simplest single-celled organisms to humans. The aim is to understand this development through new approaches.

He has maintained strong ties to his Faroese background, singing with the Húsakórið choir in Copenhagen and taking part in the Neystinum rowing club in Ishøj.

The full Ljósfest programme is available at vagur.fo.