Við fórum líka á svipaða hátíð í sumar, en þá var veðrið miklu betra.

Fórum is the 1st person plural past tense of fara (to go).

• ég fer = I go
• við förum = we go
• við fórum = we went

So Við fórum means we went.

This verb is irregular, so the past tense does not look very similar to the present tense.

In Icelandic, adverbs like líka (also / too) often come after the finite verb.

So:

• Við fórum líka ... = We also went ...

That word order is very natural in Icelandic. English often has some flexibility with also and too, but Icelandic tends to place words like líka in a more fixed position.

There are two things happening here:

1. á is the preposition used with hátíð in this meaning, roughly to / to an event / to a festival
2. Because there is movement toward something, á takes the accusative case here

So:

• svipuð hátíð = a similar festival (nominative)
• á svipaða hátíð = to a similar festival (accusative)

The adjective svipaður changes form to match the noun in gender, number, and case:

• hátíð is feminine singular
• after á with motion, it becomes accusative singular
• so svipaður becomes svipaða

In Icelandic, people often go to events with fara á.

Examples:

• fara á tónleika = go to a concert
• fara á fund = go to a meeting
• fara á hátíð = go to a festival

This is just the normal Icelandic pattern. It may not match English word-for-word, but it is the usual way to express attending many kinds of events.

Svipaða is a form of svipaður, which means similar.

In this sentence it agrees with hátíð, so it appears in the feminine accusative singular form:

• svipaður = masculine basic form
• svipuð = feminine nominative singular
• svipaða = feminine accusative singular

So á svipaða hátíð means to a similar festival.

Í sumar is a very common time expression meaning this summer or during the summer.

This is an idiomatic phrase, and you should learn it as a set expression:

• í sumar = this summer
• í vetur = this winter
• í haust = this autumn
• í vor = this spring

Even though í often means in, here the whole phrase functions more like a time expression than a literal location phrase.

En means but, and þá here means then / at that time.

So en þá means something like:

• but then
• but at that time
• but on that occasion

In this sentence, þá refers back to the earlier event being talked about. It contrasts that earlier time with the present or another event.

Var is the past tense of vera (to be).

• er = is
• var = was

So:

• veðrið var betra = the weather was better

The word order þá var veðrið ... is normal Icelandic word order after an element like þá comes first in the clause. When something other than the subject is placed first, the verb usually comes next.

So:

• Þá var veðrið ... not
• Þá veðrið var ...

The ending -ið is the definite article attached to the noun.

• veður = weather
• veðrið = the weather

Icelandic usually adds the directly to the end of the noun rather than using a separate word like English the.

Talking about weather often uses the definite form:

• veðrið er gott = the weather is good

Even when English sometimes just says weather, Icelandic often prefers veðrið.

Betra already means better, so veðrið var betra would mean the weather was better.

But miklu betra means much better or far better.

Here:

• betra = better
• miklu betra = much better

The word miklu comes from mikill (big / much) and is commonly used with comparatives in this fixed adverb-like way.

So this is a very useful pattern:

• miklu stærri = much bigger
• miklu dýrari = much more expensive
• miklu betra = much better

Because betra agrees with veðrið, and veðrið is neuter singular.

The comparative of góður (good) is betri, but it changes form depending on gender, number, and case when used as an adjective.

Here the subject is:

• veðrið = the weather = neuter singular

So the predicate adjective is:

• betra = better (neuter singular form)

That is why the sentence has veðrið ... betra.

Yes. Betri / betra is the comparative form of góður (good), just like English better is the comparative of good.

So:

• góður = good
• betri / betra = better
• bestur / best = best

This is an irregular comparison pattern, just like in English.

Icelandic does not have an indefinite article like English a / an.

So:

• hátíð can mean festival or a festival
• svipuð hátíð can mean similar festival or a similar festival, depending on context

If Icelandic wants to say the festival, it usually adds the definite article to the noun:

• hátíðin = the festival

So in this sentence:

• á svipaða hátíð = to a similar festival

Yes, often it can, because both can mean also.

• Við fórum líka ...
• Við fórum einnig ...

Both are possible, but líka is usually more common and conversational, while einnig can sound a bit more formal or written, depending on context.

So líka is a very natural choice here.

The sentence has two main parts joined by en (but):

1. Við fórum líka á svipaða hátíð í sumar
2. en þá var veðrið miklu betra

So the pattern is:

• statement 1
• en = but
• contrasting statement 2

A rough grammatical breakdown:

• Við = subject
• fórum = verb
• líka = adverb
• á svipaða hátíð = prepositional phrase
• í sumar = time expression
• en = conjunction
• þá = then / at that time
• var = verb
• veðrið = subject
• miklu betra = predicate describing veðrið

This is a very typical Icelandic sentence structure.