Reykj vĂk
Festival City
JAN-DEC DEC
Reykj vík
Festival City Reykjavík is a year-round destination. In this meeting point
of North America and Europe at the edge of the Arctic Circle, visitors can enjoy a variety of dynamic, creative, and unique festivals and events at any time of year. The world’s most northerly capital city hosts numerous film, theatre, design and music festivals, as well as art exhibitions in all styles. There are events to commemorate the arrival of summer, the cosiness of the winter nights, the wonders of children, and the riches of the sea. From internationally acclaimed multi-venue extravaganzas to small and intimate gatherings designed to introduce you to lesser-known dimensions of the unique Icelandic culture, there is something to suit all tastes, and an event for all seasons. What will you enjoy on your next visit?
www.visitreykjavik.is
JAN-FEb
Dark Music Days Dark Music Days is a contemporary music festival hosted by the Society of Icelandic Composers in collaboration with Iceland’s finest performers. The festival provides an exciting venue where composers and performers from different musical backgrounds showcase the best that Icelandic contemporary music has to offer.
www.darkmusicdays.is
MArCh
ReykjavĂk Blues Festival Watch blues artists from Europe, Iceland and North America perform together in some of the most unique jam sessions in the northern hemisphere. This is a great festival where young and promising blues artists get the chance to play with legends from both sides of the Atlantic.
www.blues.is
FEb OCT SEpT
Winter Lights Festival The entire city is very much alive during this special weekend. The reykjavík Winter lights Festival celebrates the amazing darkness and welcomes back the ever growing light in the city. The festival features a spectacular lightshow, a Museums Night where city museums open their doors to the public, a celebration of International Children’s Day, a light installation in the city’s thermal pools and the love Games, which celebrate love and companionship. With a mixture of art and industry, environment and history, and sports and culture, the events provide entertainment for both locals and visitors alike.
www.vetrarhatid.is
MArCh
ReykjavĂk Folk Festival The ReykjavĂk Folk Festival is a three-day celebration bringing
together new and established musicians to celebrate the diversity and breadth of the Icelandic folk music scene. The festival is a venue for different kinds of bands, all of whom showcase the best Icelandic folk music has to offer.
www.folkfestival.is
AUG-SEpT FEb-MArCh
Food and Fun
SEpT
Food and Fun mixes outstanding culinary skills, fresh
natural ingredients, Icelandic outdoor adventure and the world-famous reykjavík nightlife to create the ultimate recipe for fun. The core element of the festival involves world-renowned chefs collaborating with reykjavík’s finest restaurants. The second element of the festival is the chef competition, where the chefs compete by creating a three-course meal using exclusively Icelandic ingredients.
www.foodandfun.is
h
MArCh
DesignMarch DesignMarch showcases the best of the Icelandic design scene — fresh, exciting, exotic and under the radar. The scene is small and intimate, so you will get up close and personal with both locals and the design superstars. From fashion to furniture, architecture to food design, the festival showcases the best of the local design scene alongside exciting international names. For four days, the world’s most northerly capital city turns into a venue for hundreds of openings, events, exhibitions and parties.
www.designmarch.is
HĂśnnunar Design Mars March
MArCh AUGUST
Reykjavík Fashion Festival The Reykjavík Fashion Festival is a four-day explosion
of fashion design and a musical event introducing the Fall/Winter collections of Iceland’s most provocative and skilled designers. The Reykjavík Fashion Festival provides a platform for emerging Icelandic designers to collaborate with creative minds from different disciplines, providing a unique fashion experience.
www.rff.is
MArCh Feb 2013
Sónar Reykjavík The Icelandic Music Experiments
Feb 2013
The Icelandic Music Experiments sees bands battle in venues throughout the city for the title of the latest Icelandic act set to erupt. I.M.E. has helped launch the careers of many young and upcoming bands and is a great showcase for the ever-growing Icelandic music scene.
www.musiktilraunir.is
AprIl
Sequences Sequences is a realtime art festival with a focus on time-based work, performance, sound art, video and music. It features events all around the city in a variety of interesting settings. Sequences introduces international events and exhibitions showcasing the humdrum and drama of everyday life.
The ten-day event takes place throughout downtown Reykjavík in artistrun spaces, galleries and domestic venues.
www.sequences.is
AprIl AUGUST
Children‘s Culture Festival The Reykjavík Children’s Culture Festival is dedicated ex-
clusively to children and young people in reykjavík up to the age of fifteen. This annual arts festival strives to introduce youth to a wide range of arts disciplines, fostering the creative energy living within each child. The three main aspects of this festival are children’s culture, culture for children and culture with children.
www.barnamenningarhatid.is
AprIl-MAY
Art Without Limitations Art Without Limitations is an annual art festival promoting the art of people with disabilities and facilitating co-operation between people with and without disabilities. This powerful festival has made its mark in the Icelandic cultural flora and helped to break down numerous barriers.
www.listanlandamaera.blog.is
MAY
Shorts&Docs ReykjavĂk Shorts&Docs is Iceland’s main film festival devoted to short features and documentaries. The festival allows audiences to get acquainted with a range of exceptional documentaries and short films. This four-day event is one that film lovers of Iceland and visitors alike should not overlook.
www.shortsdocsfest.com
MAY
Raflost The RAFLOST Festival of Electronic Arts provides an annual boost to the grassroots of Icelandic electronic arts. The festival introduces the past, present and future of electronic arts. rAFlOST is dedicated to those using electricity and electronic equipment in their artistic creations.
Visitors will be stimulated and recharged with the newest and coolest in electronic art technology. The festival showcases both Icelandic and foreign new electronic art.
www.raflost.is
JUNE
The Viking Festival The Viking Festival in Hafnarfjรถrรฐur allows visitors to enjoy the atmosphere of the Viking Age, with costumes, food and traditions from these days gone by. Take in the sights and sounds as Vikings of all ages gathering to barter goods, feast on local food and resolve old grudges.
www.fjorukrain.is
MAY-JUNE
Jan – Feb 2013
Reykjavík Arts Festival For over forty years, Reykjavík Arts Festival has been a major force in the development of cultural diversity in Iceland. The country’s largest arts festival and one of the oldest festivals in the Nordic countries, every spring it takes over the capital’s museums, theatres, galleries and concert halls with a focus on innovation, experimentation and new perspectives.
www.artfest.is
AprIl AUGUST
Jan – Feb 2013
ReykjavĂk Gay Pride This colourful event attracts tens of thousands of people into
the city centre every year to show solidarity and have fun with the gay community in reykjavik. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people, friends, relatives, a fast growing number of tourists, and the general public all come together to celebrate and support human rights for all. The Reykjavik Gay Pride represents true PRIDE FOR ALL.
www.gaypride.is
AUGUST
Jan – Feb 2013
Reykjavík Culture Night Reykjavík Culture Night has become an essential part of cultural life in Iceland, with thousands of people strolling the streets of the city on this exciting and eventful night. Those who find themselves in reykjavík during Culture Night immerse themselves in the experience. Culture Night offers a great chance for experiencing arts, culture and other activities in a uniquely Icelandic way.
www.menningarnott.is
MArCh AUGUST
Jan – Feb 2013
Reykjavík Reykjavík Festival FashionJazz Festival Against a backdrop of imposing mountains the small, clean
coastal town of reykjavík makes an unusual and inspiring location for live jazz. The annual reykjavík Jazz Festival is an increasingly significant event on the international jazz scene. The festival hosts performances in a variety of styles, from contemporary jazz and the avant-garde to Latin jazz, gospel and big bands. It features many acclaimed international jazz players as well as Iceland’s leading jazz musicians.
www.reykjavikjazz.is
AUGUST
The Icelandic Music Experiments Jan – Feb 2013
Lókal Int’l. Theatre Festival Sequences Lókal is an international theatre festival pushing the
limits within the realms of the performing arts. The festival seeks to show some of the most exciting theatre around, focusing on the performing arts scenes in berlin, Dublin and reykjavík. It aims at introducing new and original theatre productions to audiences, using the opportunity to connect local theatre artists with the international theatre scene.
www.lokal.is
AUG-SEpT FEb-MArCh
Reykjavík Dance Festival The Reykjavík Dance Festival brings together numerous well-
known choreographers and dancers who invade the Icelandic dance scene during this ten-day festival of choreography. The festival includes events that aim to expand the notion of choreography through formats and creative expressions in seminars, dinners, workshops, publications, dance and performances.
www.reykjavikdancefestival.is
Food and Fun
SEpT
Reykjavík Literary Festival The Reykjavík International Literary Festival has been held since
1985 and is one of the most important literary festivals in Europe. Meet writers, attend readings and seminars or dance with your favourite author at the literary ball. The festival has attracted dozens of internationally acclaimed authors from around the world. Previous guests include Nobel Prize winners Herta Müller and J.M. Coetzee.
www.bokmenntahatid.is
SEpT
h
Children‘s Literature Festival The Moorland Festival of Children’s Literature is a biennial event. Each festival has a different theme; past themes have included food, magic, ghosts, kids and illustrations. Festival events include readings, workshops, exhibitions, lectures and panels.
The festival has a diverse audience ranging from children and families to scholars and academics.
www.myrin.is
DesignMarch
NOV
Young Art Festival Unglist, the art festival for young people, has been an annual event in reykjavík since 1992. This festival week is packed with a multitude of performers and spectators. The programme consists of music, design, fashion, photography, paintings and theatre, and reflects current trends in young people’s art. Just like the people whose work it showcases, Unglist is unique, awesome and, frankly, super cool. www.unglist.is
FEb OCT SEpT
Jan – Feb 2013
Reykjavík Int’l. Winter Lights Festival Film Festival The Reykjavík International Film Festival is a major film
event enriching the local culture with groundbreaking international films. Approximately 100 feature films and documentaries from 40 countries are screened around the city. progressive filmmaking and young talent is the festival’s main focus. RIFF’s reputation has spread considerably and the number of international guests has multiplied, making the festival one of the best-kept secrets of the film festival circuit.
www.riff.is
OCT DEC
Jan – Feb 2013
Imagine Peace Reykjavík Folk Festival Every year the Imagine Peace Tower is a unique experience. During Advent visitors can enjoy Christmas lights, beautiful decorations, Christmas markets, delicious food and various cultural events throughout the reykjavík capital area. It’s dark and may be cold, but this is also the peak season for the glorious northern lights. The words IMAGINE PEACE are inscribed in 24 languages on the well surrounding the tower. Tours of the tower and its surroundings on nearby Viðey Island are available when the tower’s light is shining.
www.imaginepeace.com
JAN-DEC OCT DEC
Jan – Feb 2013
Iceland Airwaves Iceland Airwaves is a critically acclaimed international music festival presenting the hottest new international bands and the best up-and-coming Icelandic artists, attracting thousands of visitors in search of freshest new sounds, upcoming talents and adventure on the edge of the Arctic Circle.
Iceland Airwaves has become a major event on the international music festival calendar and attracts an ever-growing numbers of fans to ReykjavĂk each year.
www.icelandairwaves.com
DEC
Jan – Feb 2013
December in Reykjavík Visiting Reykjavík in December during the Advent period leading up to Christmas is a unique experience. beautiful decorations, Christmas markets, delicious food and various cultural events can be enjoyed throughout the reykjavík capital area. It’s dark and may be cold, but this is also the peak season for the glorious northern lights, and the many bright Christmas lights decorating homes and businesses. Families, friends and colleagues make the season special by hosting Christmas parties, baking cookies, drinking “jólaglögg” (mulled wine) and decorating their homes. New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to join the locals and go just a little bit overboard. Visitors can dine at reykjavík’s exclusive restaurants, find their way to one of the city’s many large bonfires and take part in midnight’s spectacular fireworks display, in which almost every citizen participates This is truly a magical time to visit Iceland’s capital region.
www.visitreykjavik.is/christmas
H Ö N N U N : D YN A M O RE YKJA VÍ K P RE N T U N : Í S A F O L D A RP RE N T S M IÐJA
Can’t Find the Venue? Or do you need tips on what to explore in Reykjavík? Come visit us! The Official Tourist Information Centre in Reykjavík Visit Reykjavik, Adalstraeti 2, 101 Reykjavík
www.visitreykjavik.is