The 20th Anniversary of the Act Alone Festival in Suðureyri in the Westfjords

Every town and village in Iceland celebrates its local festival, and in the remote Suðureyri village in the Westfjords of Iceland, a popular annual festival is held.

The festival in Suðureyri is called Act Alone and is a Solo Performance festival, dedicated to the art of acting alone.

Act Alone is the oldest theatre festival in Iceland and the only theatre festival that is held annually. I was invited to attend the 20th Anniversary of Act Alone, and had a great time.

Don't miss this festival if you are visiting the Westfjords of Iceland on the second weekend of August.

Top photo: with the magician Jón Víðis, who was one of the solo acts at Act Alone

One of the brilliant solo performers at the Act Alone festival

The founders and organizers of the Act Alone festival are the talented actor Elfar Logi Hannesson and his wife Marsibil G. Kristjánsdóttir.

The festival is held every year on the second weekend of August and lasts for 3-4 days. Before its 20th anniversary, Elfar Logi phoned my husband and booked him for a solo act at the festival.

My husband is a professional magician and when he is booked outside of Reykjavík I accompany him and take his photos.

The Magician Jón Víðis performing at Act Alone

I also take the opportunity and go on explorations on my own to find new material for my travel-blog.

Elfar Logi had booked Hotel Ísafjörður Torfnes for 3 days for the entertainers at Act Alone and we stayed there during the festival. We were in the company of clowns and actors, which was great fun :)

When we visit the Westfjords we always stay for as long as possible, so we arrived 2 days before the Act Alone festival started. We stayed at Þingeyri village for the first night at Hotel Sandafell.

Marsibil with a selection of her beautiful Skeljaverur dolls

Elfar Logi and Marsibil live in Þingeyri and we met Elfar Logi by chance at the gas station and he invited us to his home to meet his lovely wife.

Marsibil is a multi-talented artist and she showed me her atelier, where she creates beautiful Skeljaverur dolls from various types of shells from the Westfjord beaches.

I am going to show you her beautiful work in my next travel-blog.

Skeljaverur dolls

Marsibil is the woman behind the man, so to speak, and I have the greatest admiration for all the work she does.

She is also the theatre director at Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre, which I showed you in my last travel-blog, and the costume designer:

Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre - the smallest Theatre in the Westfjords of Iceland

The couple showed us around Þingeyri village, which was very much appreciated as nothing beats being shown around by locals, in my opinion.

Jón Víðis and Elfar Logi at Þingeyri

For the second night, we stayed in Suðureyri village. It is a small, secluded village with a population of a little under 300.

Many of you might have visited Ísafjörður - the Capital of the Westfjords - and know that a side tunnel leads from the one-lane tunnel that takes you from Ísafjörður (Skutulsfjörður) to Önundarfjörður.

That 5 km long side tunnel leads to the 13 km long Súgandafjörður, and Suðureyri is the village in that secluded fjord. The fjord used to be much more isolated before the tunnel was built.

Suðureyri church and swimming pool, but you will find swimming pools in all the villages in Iceland

We stayed at the Fisherman Guesthouse as we wanted to get to know this village better before Act Alone started.

If you will be staying in Ísafjörður town during the Act Alone festival, then a complementary Fisherman's bus will take you from Ísafjörður to Suðureyri village and back again when the festivities end.

Elfar Logi in Staðarkirkja introducing the opening act of the Act Alone festival

And, on the same night, as a part of the opening act of the Act Alone festival, the popular singer Mugison, was playing in Staðarkirkja church in Súgandafjörður.

Mugison was on a mission to play in 100 churches around Iceland, big and small, and in 2024 he finished his task - kudos to this talented artist for a job well done.

All of the acts of the Act Alone festival are free and so was Mugison's act in Staðarkirkja church. The  church was full and several people stood outside the church and listened to Mugison's performance.

Mugison in Staðarkirkja church in Súgandafjörður - Act Alone

I am also on a mission to visit all the churches in Iceland, which are around 300, so I welcomed a Mugison concert in the lovely little country church Staðarkirkja.

What a fantastic opening act, thank you Elfar Logi for all the wonderful performances at Act Alone :)

A couple of days later we followed Mugison to another Staðarkirkja church in the remote nature reserve Hornstrandir.

To reach this area we took a boat from Ísafjörður and hiked for 30 minutes to the church.

If you want to check out Hornstrandir then I found this tour, which I am going to join later on: Scenic 4.5-Hour Hornstrandir Sightseeing Tour with Boat Ride from Isafjordur.

With Elfar Logi, the founder, and organizer of the Act Alone festival

The next morning I looked out of the window of the the guesthouse and saw Elfar Logi sitting at the restaurant opposite the guesthouse. So we joined him for breakfast.

And when I posted this photo on Facebook my friends mistook Elfar Logi for the curator at Ósvör maritime-museum who is in the photo behind us at the restaurant and commented that they had also met him :) 

The opening of Skáli Hallvarðs súganda was also a part of the festival Act Alone

They look alike but this is not the same guy. But do pay the Ósvör fisherman's hut in Bolungarvík a visit and meet the guy in the photo.

I saw him at the opening of the replica of the Viking longhouse, Skáli Hallvarðs súganda in Súgandafjörður, dressed in this same fishermen's outfit (skinnklæði), but the opening of the longhouse was also a part of Act Alone. 

A queue in Suðureyri waiting for food at the Act Alone festival - the summer was cold this year

The Act Alone festival is free for everybody, and what a ride - for 3 days I watched one talented act after another, and was in awe of how good the solo act performers were.

Some of the actors were Icelandic and some had arrived from abroad to take part in the festival.

It was back in 2004 that the Act Alone festival was held for the first time, and it has been growing ever since. 

How come I had never before attended this festival that had been running for 20 years?

My husband performing at the Act Alone festival

Act Alone is held on the same weekend as Fiskidagurinn mikli - the Great Fishday in Dalvík, which we always attended, that is why I missed this festival in Suðureyri.

Sadly, the Fiskidagurinn mikli festival has run its course, but it also means that we were free to attend Act Alone.

My husband had 2 tasks at the Act Alone festival; a kite workshop where he showed the local kids how to make and fly a homemade kite - and do a magic show. 

So when he was busy making kites in Suðureyri village, I attended the opening ceremony of Skáli Hallvarðs súganda, which was right up my alley.

Homemade kites at Act Alone

I counted my blessings, as I love writing about Viking activities in Iceland, turf houses, and archaeological excavations as those of you, who read my travel-blog, know:

The Icelandic Vikings - a List of Viking Activities and Viking Museums in Iceland

Ancient Archaeological Viking Ruins I have visited on my Travels in Iceland

You can see the Viking Settlement-Age Farm in my travel-blog:

Skáli Hallvarðs Súganda - Viking Settlement-Age Farm in the Westfjords

A lone cat in Suðureyri

In between acts, I went on an exploration of Suðureyri village, and this cute Suðureyri cat followed me around :)

I am so glad that Elfar Logi contacted us as now I feel such love for Suðureyri and Súgandafjörður, the next fjord to where my grandmother was born.

I had visited it before, but I had never before connected with this beautiful fjord. Thanks to Elfar Logi and Marsibil I now feel like I "know" this fjord.

If you want to take part in Act Alone then you can contact Elfar Logi and Marsibil on their Act Alone website.

Skáli Hallvarðs súganda in Súgandafjörður fjord

Elfar Logi contacted us again when we were back home in Reykjavík and asked my husband to do a magic and hypnosis show at Kómedíuleikhúsið - the Comedy Theatre in Haukadalur valley just outside of Þingeyri.

We said "yes" without hesitation and off we went again to the Westfjords a month later and had a fantastic time:

Kómedíuleikhúsið in Haukadalur - the smallest professional Theatre in Iceland

The harbour of Suðureyri

Don't miss visiting Súgandafjörður fjord, Suðureyri village, and Skáli Hallvarðs súganda settlement-age farm when driving around the Westfjords of Iceland.

Here you can see the location of Suðureyri on Google Maps.

Have a lovely time in Suðureyri and Súgandafjörður in the beautiful Westfjords :)