Everyone knows about the natural beauty of Iceland, but only a few of us know about the cultural and festive beauty of this lively nation. Festivals in Iceland bring warmth and high spirits to beat the cold climatic conditions. All festivals are celebrated with great joy and celebrations are accompanied by decorations, parades, and events happening all across the length and breadth of the Island. The following article will introduce in detail The most popular festivals In Iceland.
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7 Most Popular Festivals In Iceland
1. Reykjavik Winter Lights Festival
The Winter Lights Festival celebrates both winters and the emerging daylight after the dark days of winter are over. A lot of people are attracted to this beautiful event where all the buildings and facades of the city are illuminated to celebrate the coming of daylight back to the country. This is a really important festival for the Icelandic people continuing for days where events like Museum Night and Pool Night happen. The Museums of the country open their doors to the public for free so that they can enjoy various cultural activities there. On Pool night, people are given a free pass to enjoy the Geothermal hot pools all for free.
2. Reykjavik Pride
In August of each year, the biggest festival celebrating the LGBT community happens on the streets of the capital city of Iceland. The week-long festival features various seminars, lectures, pride parades, and fancy dress competitions. More than 100,000 people from all over the world come to celebrate this festival. You can buy yourself a pride pass to get entry to all the events happening during the festival. The best day of the festival is Saturday when the city is painted in a sea of rainbow colors, with the remarkable pride parade happening all day long. This is one of the most important festivals in Iceland.
3. Design March
Starting in the year 2008, this is one of the most important design festivals in Iceland. The festival has over 100 events planned each emphasizing different aspects and genres of design such as food designing, furniture designing, dress designing, etc. Renowned designers from all over the world and Iceland come to participate in the festival. The two main highlights of the festival are the Design Talk where both international and local designers discuss modern design and the challenges. The second highlight is the Design Match, where the local designers have the opportunity to come up close with the international designers and brands to network and even sign contracts.
4. Secret Solstice Festival
This newcomer on the Icelandic music festival scene has something for everyone. Launched in 2014, the festival offers singer-songwriters, DJs, rock bands, and hip hop acts from Iceland and abroad, tearing up multiple stages over four days and nights, under the midnight sun. Secret Solstice is a great festival to discover new artists as well as enjoy headliners like Radiohead and Die Antwood.
5. Innipúkinn Festival
Innipúkinn is a small annual music festival, held in downtown Reykjavík over Iceland’s bank holiday weekend. Past performers have included Cat Power, Blonde Redhead, Mugison, Raveonettes, Hjálmar, Trabant, Seabear, Jonathan Ritchman, Mínus, Dikta, FM Belfast, and many others. Along with the music program, this event also features a music market, pub quiz, BBQs, and more.
6. New Year‘s Eve
Icelanders are known for going a bit overboard on this holiday! Shops are generally open until 13:00 while most bars, clubs, and music venues are open to the crowds of merrymakers late into the night. While Icelanders traditionally dine with the family on this day, visitors can enjoy dinner at one of Reykjavik’s fine restaurants (RSVP highly recommended) before joining in the evening celebrations, including huge neighborhood bonfires held across the city.
As midnight rolls around, everyone heads outside to a good viewing spot, champagne, and sparklers in hand, to watch the unbelievable amount of fireworks set off to welcome the New Year. Afterward, the partying continues into the wee hours of the morning. Not surprisingly, 1 January tends to be a quiet day. To make the most of this holiday, see our Iceland New Year’s tour packages.
7. Viking Festival
Are you familiar with the TV series called Vikings? Well, Viking Festival might trigger some memories of that TV show. This is a cultural event celebrated every year in Hafnarfjörður, just a few miles from Reykjavík. Having started in 1995, this is the oldest and biggest festival that Iceland has ever witnessed. Starting the second week of June, this event makes Hafnarfjörður the center of attention for a spectacular four weeks. Travelers from all over the world come to be entertained by musicians, artists, storytellers, artisans, and blacksmiths. The festival comes to a climax with Vikings showing techniques of marksmanship.
Read more: Top 8 Traditional Festivals In Uganda
