Hafnarfjörður library transformed for costume festival

Several thousand people of all ages attended the Heimar og himingeimar costume festival at Hafnarfjörður Library over the weekend, according to mbl.is.

Unnur Helga Möller, the library’s events manager, said this was the third time the festival had been held. It brings together people interested in costumes and costume-making, ranging from armour and historical clothing to film costumes and outfits inspired by Japanese animated films.

“A costume is essentially any collection of clothes that forms a coherent whole and represents or symbolises something,” Unnur told Morgunblaðið.

The library was transformed into five different fantasy worlds. They included a fantasy world, a historical world, a workshop area and Stjörnuspillinn, a spaceship belonging to the 501st Legion.

The spaceship attracted considerable attention at the previous festival. It was rebuilt in a new location and turned into an entire base in the library’s new premises. Like everything else at the festival, it was built by volunteers. After last year’s event, the group was invited to take it to a festival abroad.

About 50 people helped prepare the event. The library was partly closed from Wednesday afternoon as volunteers worked into the night, often ordering pizzas and continuing until shortly before the festival opened on Friday.

Admission was free. Unnur said the festival was run entirely by volunteers and supported by grants, including backing from the Children’s Culture Fund and Hafnarfjörður municipality.

She said the festival had grown rapidly. Five thousand people attended in its first year, while that figure doubled last year, when 10,000 costume enthusiasts came to Hafnarfjörður.