The festival ‘Elvelangs’ (literary: along the river) that takes places every two years on a Friday evening from 7 till 10 – if the weather is bad the festival will be cancelled – was a resounding success.
Some of the refugees – more than I expected – took part in the festival. The festival consists of a walk along all kind of art installations in something that could be described as park, nature but less wild than elsewhere here in northern Norway.
Here in Melbu is one of the oldest asylum seeker centers in Norway.
I ended the evening in one of the few bars here with a refugee from the Kurdish part of Iran, who has been here 17 years. His asylum application has been rejected but he cannot be deported, 17 years in limbo.