ABSTRACT
Harvest has been a cause for celebration for humans from time immemorial, and with the growth of tourism, these festivals attract visitors from outside the celebrating communities. This chapter focuses on the festival from the resident rather than visitor perspective and is based on short semi-structured interviews with residents in the immediate vicinity of the most visited round-up, Laufskalarett. Sheep and horse farming in North-West Iceland relies partially on the use of common lands, that is, mountain pastures, for summer grazing. Farmers drive or herd their sheep to the pastures after lambing season, and their horses later in the summer when the pastures can carry their grazing and trampling. The farmers are responsible for the management of the livestock and the pastures, for the corral, fences and for the organisation of the gathering and sorting, the core attraction in the event.
