Dyrsku'n is what Americans would recognize as a country fair. There are booths selling everything imaginable from wool socks, belts, and used household items to sausages and tea. They also have large things available for sale, such as home appliances and farm equipment.
Like Farsund, Dyrsku'n also involves a set of obligatory performances. The perks are: 1) the festival pays for our travel and parking, 2) we get food vouchers and 3) we are allowed to have a fiddle case open for donations. The downside is that we have to play outside in varied weather a program that is rather patched together for an audience that for the most part could care less about our music.
We were required to play with the two students taking the half year program. They are both very talented musicians, but it was a challenge to come up with a common repertoire in such a short time. Adding to the stress was the fact that three of us had rehearsals and the performance in Rjukan the previous weekend which cut into the available time to rehearse for Dyrsku'n.
In the end things went well. It was hot and sunny in the morning with more and more clouds as the day wore on. We played our last set just before it started to rain. Some of the audiences were more generous than others and we wound up with about $15 each to take home.
Our earnings from the day did not make it home in the form of cash, however. After we put our instruments back in the car, we had an hour to wander around the fair before we needed to leave. Somehow we managed to not spend all of our money; $15 doesn't last very long in Norway. Now, I have wool socks and David has a new belt; we also have fresh loose-leaf tea and a cast iron pan for small pancakes.
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