Rólant Waag Dam, Frí Mentan, Frihedsbrevet.fo >< August 16th 2024
> Skrapt attracts with a delightful film <
Last year we had two new festivals. Skrapt is a festival in the capital, while Norð Festival takes place in Viðareiði, and they couldn't be more different from each other. Both are back this year – and as my Facebook is set up, I have seen a lot of marketing from the Norð Festival lately.
The marketing for Skrapt has been different – and that’s what they want. The promotion has not been as smooth and consistent, but in February, they announced that the festival will take place in October, rather than July as it was last year. In May, it was announced that a film from Skrapt 2023 was on its way. In June, the film was shown at Niðri Undir, while the organizers announced that Ókendir are the first group in this year’s Skrapt program.
This Tuesday, we received news from Skrapt again. This time, it was about ticket sales starting, along with a link to the previously discussed film, which was filmed and edited by the Icelandic Frosti Jón Runólfsson during the days from when Skrapt opened until the different closing event in the swimming pool in Gundadalur last year.
It is a delightful and incredibly representative description of the festival, as I experienced it. Admittedly, I was at work, and I did not attend every concert, but I was fortunate to experience several concerts and get a bit of the festival under my skin.
Skrapt offers something different than what the other festivals provide. Skrapt has a different focus; it features different music and a different crowd. All of this is well shown in the film, which is based on interviews with the organizers, musicians, and guests.
There are conversations with Joel Briem and Sunneva Háberg Eysturstein, who organized Skrapt. There are also conversations with Marianna Winter, Knút Háberg Eysturstein, and Fríði Djurhuus, who performed at Skrapt, as well as the Icelandic music journalist Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen also sharing his experiences from Skrapt.
Returning to the crowd, it is not an exaggeration to say that there could have been more people at Skrapt last year. Having said that, however, there were still enough people for the organizers to immediately confirm that Skrapt will be back on the agenda in 2024.
This is something to be pleased about because this musical refuge and the alternative mindset about music that Skrapt represents is needed in the Faroe Islands – and especially in the capital, which is drowning in pop parties where the focus is on singing along and clapping in rhythm.