The day after Bun Day – Bolludagur is Sprengidagur – Explosion or Blast Day. On it, Icelanders pretend that they haven’t spent the entire day before pigging out on cream buns, and instead gorge themselves on saltkjöt og baunir. Salted meat and Beans, but we get mounds of potatoes and white sauce too. Delicious!
Icelanders will often eat meals based on these things throughout the year. However, it became more and more associated with this day so whenever else Icelanders eat it they will definitely have it on sprengidagur.
Why do Icelanders eat to explode on Sprengidagur?
This used to be the last day before Lent which is traditionally a time of fasting, so everyone would eat as much as they could on that last day. Now we don’t fast throughout Lent, but the tradition of eating way too much on Sprengidagur holds strong.
Variations of this tradition are around worldwide, the most famous being Mardi Gras, but in the UK Shrove Tuesday is beloved. Whatever its origin this is a great time to get together with family and friends and pig out!
We hope you enjoyed learning about another awesome festival we have here in Iceland. We hope you can visit us someday soon and taste our delicious food!
A collective of passionate captains, naturalists, and sea experts dedicated to sharing the wonders of the North Atlantic.
