Magnús Benediktsson took on the job of Landsmót manager in the beginning of October. Landsmót, the National Icelandic Horse Competition takes place in Hella South Iceland 4. – 11. July 2022. Magnús is well known in Iceland for his work for riding club Sprettur and for leading the managing team at tournament Fjórðungsmót Vesturlands in Borgarnes last summer.
Many exciting projects
“There are many things to be done for Landsmót but a lot of work as already been done by my predecessor Eiríkur Vilhelm Sigurðarson that managed the event until now, and of course this event should have taken place in 2020. Everyone knows why it couldn’t, a certain pandemic, COVID-19, forced us to cancel at that time. But we are in a good place with our planning and Eiríkur will continue to work with me and Vilborg Smáradóttir as well,” says Magnús.
Landsmót emphasizes on the start of the ticket sales now, which formally started on November 5th.
“We encourage everyone to buy their tickets online before December 31st to get the best available prices. Tickets are available on www.landsmot.is and www.tix.is. Some have already bought a ticket back in 2019/2020 and of course they will be valid at the event in 2022, “ Magnús claims.
“We are of course also planning the whole event in general, closing contracts with sponsors, permit seeking, preparation for the catering- and sales area and program making,” says Magnús.
All information on camping, accommodation can be found on the web, as well as any other information about Landsmót.
Something new
“We are aiming for a great festival where the Icelandic horse will have the leading roll, in a competition in all classes and breeding. So, there will be great victories and stars will be born,” says Magnús quite confident and goes on: “We are hoping for 8000-10000 guests from all over the world to visit.”
Magnús says that they will be trying new things next summer, regarding the competition and program.
“Yes, we have decided to try to develop our event, that was first held in 1950, by adding to the disciplines offered at Landsmót. We are adding V1 fourgait, F1 fivegait and T1 loose rein tölt. Like people know, we have competed for a long time in T1 tölt and pace on Landsmót in the past and that will not change. We will be using the Icelandic ranking lists to invite riders to compete in these disciplines, so there will be simply the strongest pairs there. We truly believe that it is time to make a change and adding something new to our great event. For this to work out in the program, we will have to adjust the program and we will present that work later,” says Magnús very excited about this innovative step.
Social life at Landsmót
“We know that it is important to strengthen the bonds between people at Landsmót and it is supposed to be fun to be a guest at an event like ours. So, I have probably gotten the best contract already, since I have sealed a deal with the weather god and asked for great weather. But seriously, we are putting a lot into making the atmosphere, entertainment, and social life great. To do so we have hired Jón Gunnar Geirdal as our marketing manager. He has for decades worked on “plugging” and marketing since he has worked for the biggest marketing firms in the country. He is the true phrase king of Iceland, and we are very happy to have him on board.”
The last Landsmót was held in Reykjavík 2018, so next summer there will be four years from the last one.
“We will do our very best to have fun, see great horses and entertain the whole family next summer,” says Magnús as we say goodbye.
Text: Hilda Karen Garðarsdóttir Photos: Landsmót
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