NEWSLETTER WINTER 2014
W I N T E R LI G H T S FE S T I VA L
Amazing Days of Darkness in Reykjavík Those long winter days of darkness in Reykjavík are set to be illuminated magnificently at the city’s next annual Winter Lights Festival. From 6 - 15 February 2014, the festival promises a superb collection of sparkling events, all delivered with our customary commitment to quality and diversity. Light events and celebrations have always been an integral part of the Winter Lights Festival; however, to make the most of our days of darkness and to accentuate further the extraordinary contrasts presented during the Icelandic winter season, additional prominence will be placed on all events dedicated to light-art and beautiful illuminations. With each new festival we seek not only to underscore the importance of the event as a celebration of light, which is visually stunning and continuously inventive, but also to oversee its continued growth and ensure that our amazing days of darkness and the radiance of Reykjavík’s Winter Lights Festival attracts the attention of the world.
Returning for the 2014 edition will be regular favourites such as Museum Night and Pool Night, plus many new light installations, exhibiting clearly the contrasts between light and dark. In addition, some of the city’s key departments and institutions, together with a number of societies and individual artists, will host an assortment of entertaining events. In pride of place at the next annual Reykjavík Winter Lights Festival will be a number of sensational works of light-art, all sponsored by the Scandinavian art and culture fund Kultur Kontakt Nord. These highly anticipated art commissions, which will also be exhibited in both Torshavn and Manchester, include pieces by: Tine Bech (Denmark); Inuk Silis Høegh (Greenland), Arild M. Kalseth (Norway) and Amelie Deschamps (France); Kitty VonSometime (UK); Kristján Kristjánsson and Örvar Halldórsson (Iceland); Ulf Pederson (UK); and Jakob Kvist (Denmark). Prepare to be amazed by the dramatic interplay of darkness and light at the Winter Lights Festival 2014!
Visit Reykjavík - Aðalstræti 2 - 101 Reykjavík - Tel. +354 590 1550 - Fax +354 590 1501 - info@visitreykjavik.is
www.visitreykjavik.is
www.visitreykjavik.is
Reykjavík Christmas City Get all wrapped-up in Reykjavík this winter!
The word is finally out! Reykjavík’s growing reputation as an alternative Christmas destination has exceeded all expectations, attracting much international media attention and a record number of visitors to the city. With some top tourist accolades to fuel the enthusiasm and a couple of nods from CNN Travel - who have twice selected Reykjavík as one of the best places to spend the Christmas holidays, we’re all set to share another spectacular winter season with the world, inviting even more guests to come on over, be inspired, and get themselves all wrapped-up in Reykjavík. Our wonderful Christmas season, crowned regularly with displays of enchanting Northern Lights, is of course one of the city’s main winter attractions; however, it’s not just those other worldly illuminations and extravagant decorations getting all the attention. The fact that Iceland has not one, but thirteen Santa Clauses or Yule Lads, is a little gem of cultural knowledge that’s been celebrated and promoted as part of the Reykjavík Christmas City initiative since the year 2010: it’s also resulted in quite a few kids around the world redirecting their mail from the North Pole to Iceland! Reykjavík Christmas City, which was established as a joint initiative between the City of Reykjavík and a number of partners in the capital area, was designed to promote our wonderful winter celebra-
tions throughout the month of December and treat our visitors to a real feast for the senses! Apart from our emphasis on extraordinary illuminations and festive shopping, each year we collaborate with a number of different city departments to create a lively and entertaining Christmas season spiced-up with our unique combination of fun, food and Icelandic folklore. In addition to the various traditional Christmas events, such as the annual lighting of the Oslo Christmas Tree, a number of beautiful locations across the city are transformed every year into dedicated Advent areas, where the majority of culture-inspired events and activities take place. These locations include the Christmas Valley in Laugardalur, Christmas Island in Viðey, a Christmas Market in Ingólfstorg Square, the Christmas Village in Hafnarfjörður, an Advent Calendar at the Nordic House and our charming Christmas Harbour. It wouldn’t be the same without them! Reykjavík Christmas City will once again invite those notorious Christmas Creatures to take up residence on the walls of some of the city’s most prominent buildings, with more mischief in the making planned for this year. As usual people will be invited to take part in the Hunt for the Christmas Creatures - a fun activity for all the family, which involves solving a few Creature associated riddles, with prizes, including gift-cards and city-passes for the lucky winners.
Award Winning City Reykjavík has been enjoying the full beam of the travel media spotlight as more people discover the city’s unparalleled beauty and fabulous illuminations. The city, which is home to around two thirds of the population of Iceland - a country rated by the World Economic Forum as not only the friendliest in the world, but also the one with the smallest gender gap, has also received a number of prestigious international accolades ranging from ‘Best Travel Destination’ to ‘Best Christmas Holiday Destination’. The latest superlative commendation comes from CNN Travel, which voted Reykjavik as one of Europe’s ten‘hottest’ destinations for the year 2013. Accolades awarded to Reykjavík as a destination in recent years: 2013 CNN Travel selects Reykjavík as one of Europe’s top ten hottest destinations. Reykjavík’s Harpa Concert Hall wins the Mies van der Rohe award for architecture.
2012 CNN Travel selects Reykjavík as the ‘Best Christmas Holiday Destination’. Lonely Planet votes Reykjavík ‘Top Destination’. 2011 CNN Travel selects Reykjavík as the ‘Best Christmas Holiday Destination’. Lonely Planet selects Reykjavík City as ‘Best in Travel’. The IFEA World Festival and Event City Prize is awarded to Reykjavík.
Team Visit Reykjavík - proud to be of service!
After an eventful summer packed full of interesting developments and a record-breaking number of visitors and VIPs, we’re getting all wrapped-up in the spellbinding shades of winter as the city prepares for a sensational new season of festivals and celebrations. 2013 has been an exceptional year for tourism in Iceland; with annual estimated figures showing a 20% increase in the number of visitors between 2012 and 2013, the majority of whom also visit Reykjavík. This increase, especially in the off-season, has been met with both enthusiasm and innovation in the city as local institutions and businesses come together to serve this growing sector and to create new and exciting ways to entertain and engage visitors to the city. There are many fascinating things that make the capital of Iceland an attractive destination, with plenty of landmarks and places of historical significance to explore; however, there’s always something new for the traveller to experience in Reykja vík too, and with every season revealing a new perspective of nature and countless different aspects of our colourful culture, it’s difficult not to be impressed with the diversity of our tiny, but tremendously popular city. The appealing qualities that make Reykjavík such an irresistible hot-spot are both economic and aesthetic in nature. The fact that Reykjavík is now an “affordable destination” is often quoted as a major tourist incentive, but also that it’s “cool on many levels” with plenty of “urban drama” and culture to match the surrounding magnificent landscapes and natural wonders. Whatever the reason for your stay, we at Visit Reykjavík are very proud to be of service to all our guests and look forward to sharing the best of the winter season with you here in Reykja vík City – where countless adventures beckon and a host of wonders await!
Visitreykjavík.is – our brand new website Your trip to Iceland starts here! In order to improve services for guests and visitors to Reykjavík we’ve been hard at work creating the most comprehensive travel website available in Iceland. Launched on July 19th this year, our new online web services are dedicated to providing up-todate information about travel, accommodation, news, media and events in the capital area. With an impressive total volume of 1.67 gigabytes, 1,800 images and well over 1,000 easy-to-navigate pages, our new website is both informative and designed to enhance the quality and availability of information to all our guests. We encourage all our visitors to make their first stop at www. visitreykjavik.is.
The Northern Lights Iceland is renowned for its otherworldly illuminations, the Northern Lights being one remarkable example. This particular phenomenon, also known as the Aurora Borealis, can be experienced in Iceland during the winter time when they appear in a variety of colours and forms, either twirling gently in shades of milky green, or blazing in a wild and multi-coloured dance across the night sky.
Massive Aurora activity predicted as Solar Max reaches its peak Although the Northern Lights appear frequently during the winter season, the intensity is variable and dependent on the position within the solar cycle. Over the past few seasons solar activity has been steadily increasing, but because this year marks the end of the so-called Solar Max, visitors to Reykjavík can expect to be treated to an extraordinary celestial show as the peak of the sunspot cycle delivers some mega solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
New Stellar Attractions The significant increase in tourism to Iceland combined with the extra solar activity has generated an unprecedented amount of interest in the Northern Lights from people the world over - an exciting factor which has been met with great enthusiasm and creative innovation from the travel service industry. Visitors to Reykjavík can now experience the phenomenon via a number of operators offering novel tours and trips with a range of different experiences, from coach trips to luxury sailboat tours, or super-jeep night rides to the Northern Lights. Guests can also augment their knowledge with a trip to Aurora Reykjavík - a remarkable new centre dedicated entirely to the Northern Lights phenomenon. It offers visitors an informative and beautifully crafted experience with great interactive educational tools, impressive displays, tips on when to see the Northern Lights and where to photograph them. Visit Reykjavík and be captivated by our endless nights and Northern Lights this winter!
Enjoy Reykjavík with one easy to use card
The Reykjavík Welcome Card offers great value for money by giving you FREE ADMISSION to all of Reykjavík’s thermal pools and museums, with unlimited travel on Reykjavík buses, free ferry rides to Viðey Island and DISCOUNTS at selected shops and restaurants. The card is available for 24, 48 and 72 hours.
Enjoy the nature!
Recharge and relax!
Connect with culture!
See the Sights!
Take a dip in our thermal pools!
For more information on the Reykjavík Welcome Card visit www.visitreykjavik.is. You can purchase your card at the Official Tourist Information Centre or at one of our many sales outlets.
Discover Icelandic Design
A few facts and figures
Visit Reykjavík staff
The City of Reykjavík is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located at latitude 64°08`N in south-western Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay.
Einar Þór Bárðarson Director of Visit Reykjavík einar@visitreykjavik.is
Heiðrún Hákonardóttir Office Manager heidrun@visitreykjavik.is
Bryndís Pjetursdóttir Project Manager Marketing & Tourism bryndis@visitreykjavik.is
Julio Cesar Leon Project Manager Tourist Information Centre julio@visitreykjavik.is
Jón Trausti Sæmundsson Project Manager Marketing & Tourism jon@visitreykjavik.is
Þórdís Pétursdóttir Information Officer thordis@visitreykjavik.is
Population: The Reykjavík Capital Area has a total population of 205,675, which is about two-thirds of Iceland’s population of 325,101 people. Flight time: Reykjavík is probably closer than you think. Flight time is only 2-4 hours from Europe and 5-6 hours from east coast USA and Canada. It is possible to get to Iceland by sea as well. Weather: Despite its northerly location, Reykjavík has a relatively mild climate due to the warm Gulf Stream: cool in summer (average 10.5°C) and fairly mild in winter (average 0.2°C). However, Icelandic weather is notoriously fickle and visitors should be prepared for the unexpected. Language: The national language is Icelandic, a language of Germanic origin, related to the Scandinavian languages. English is, however, widely spoken. Need more information? Check out our website www.visitreykjavik.is or send us an e-mail: info@visitreykjavik.is
Karen María Jónsdóttir Project Manager Events karen@visitreykjavik.is
Valgerður Ragnarsdóttir Information Officer vala@visitreykjavik.is
Lisa Gail Shannen Guðmundur Birgir Halldórsson Copywriter Project Manager Events lisa@visitreykjavik.is gummi@visitreykjavik.is
Visit Reykjavík - Aðalstræti 2 - 101 Reykjavík - Tel. +354 590 1550 - Fax +354 590 1501 - info@visitreykjavik.is
www.visitreykjavik.is