Festivals and events in Reykjavík

Dark Music Days

JanuaryDark Music Days is an annual music festival that has lit up the darkest period of the Icelandic winter in Reykjavík for over 40 years. It offers an exciting environment that caters to the curious mind with high-quality music and world-class performers

Reykjavík International Games

January - FebruaryThe Reykjavík International Games, or RIG, are held annually in January to increase the competitiveness of Icelandic Athletes while reducing their travel costs by creating a unique international event in the city of Reykjavík that attracts strong foreign competitors.

Winter Lights Festival

FebruaryThe long winter days of darkness in Reykjavík will be illuminated magnificently at the city’s next annual Winter Lights Festival.

The Annual Icelandic Beer Festival

March 1st AnnuallyThe Icelandic Annual Beer Festival is an annual celebration of beer freedom with a four day festival starring the best of the Icelandic beer trade along with selected international ones.

Food and Fun Festival

MarchWith extraordinary culinary talent, a selection of quality Icelandic ingredients combined with countless adventures and the chance to experience Reykjavík’s world-famous nightlife, the Food and Fun festival mixes a variety of exciting elements to create the ultimate recipe for fun.

Icelandic Music Experiments

March - AprilIcelandic Music Experiments has been the main musical outlet for new bands in Iceland since 1982 and a milestone event for many promising new bands in Iceland.

Stockfish Film Festival

AprilStockfish Film Festival & Industry Days is a non-profit international film festival held in March each year in Bíó Paradís, the only art-house cinema in Iceland. We screen around 30 hand-picked award-winning films during the festival and host various events and meet-ups

Reykjavík Open

AprilThe Reykjavik Open is an annual chess tournament held in Reykjavik

Design March

AprilDesign March showcases the best creations straight from the Icelandic design scene, with fresh, exciting, exotic, and under-the-radar treasures. The scene is small and intimate, which means you’ll get the chance to meet all the stars of local design.

Reykjavík Children's Culture Festival

AprilChildren's culture, culture for children, and culture with children are the three main aspects of the Reykjavík Children’s Culture Festival: a week-long arts and culture festival dedicated to children and youth.

Reykjavík International Literary Festival

AprilThis biannual festival has been held since 1985 and is one of the most important literary festivals in Europe. Meet authors, attend readings and seminars or dance with your favourite author at the Literary Ball!

Reykjavík Blues Festival

April 2023 Watch blues artists from Europe, Iceland, and North America perform together in some of the most unique jam sessions in the Northern Hemisphere.

Iceland Innovation Week

May Iceland Innovation Week is a festival that celebrates and showcases innovation at the end of May every year. Events ranging from panel discussions and company visits to happy hours and an icy ocean dip are held in locations in Reykjavík throughout the week.

Fishermen's day

The First Sunday in JuneOne of the main goals is that families can come to the Old Harbour, and have a fun day with all kinds of events with reference to the sea and its surroundings, without cost. Everything that the festival offers are free of charge. Sailing, entertainment, food taste, playgrounds, competitions, etc.

Reykjavík Arts Festival

June BiannuallyThe Reykjavik Arts Festival is a biennial multidisciplinary festival with a special focus on new commissions and the creative intersection of the arts.

Viking Festival Hafnarfjörður

JuneThe Viking reenactment group Rimmugýgur hosts the annual Hafnarfjörður Viking Festival, the oldest and biggest festival and market of its kind in Iceland.

National Day of Iceland

June 17thEvery year, Icelanders' national holiday is celebrated with all kinds of entertainment and events in the city centre!

Reykjavík Fringe Festival

June A celebration of all art forms, new and old artists on the fringe. Local and international artists perform all over the city at the height of summer presenting a variety of theatre, dance, circus, comedy, poetry, drag, burlesque, children's shows, magic, new media, and more.

Innipúkinn Music Festival

August Innipúkinn is a 3-day annual music festival held in Reykjavik, Iceland the first weekend of August.

Reykjavík Pride

AugustThis colourful event brings tens of thousands of people into the city centre every year to show solidarity and to have fun with the LGBTQ community in Reykjavik. People of all genders, friends, relatives, and a fast-growing number of tourists, all come together to celebrate and support universal human rights.

Reykjavík Culture Night

August Culture Night is both created and enjoyed by city residents and takes place all across central Reykjavik, with celebrations in the streets and squares, in museums, businesses, and in residential gardens!

Reykjavik Jazz Festival

AugustThe 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 and Iceland’s leading Jazz musicians.

In the Field at Home

August - SeptemberJoin in the vibrant celebration of Mosfellsbær City Area's annual town festival, In the Field at Home (icel: Í túninu heima), held on the last weekend of August each year.

Hamraborg Festival

August - September Hamraborg Festival is a multidisciplinary artist-run art festival focusing on visual arts, site-specific works, performance art and social engagements.

Extreme Chill Festival

September Extreme Chill Festival, a yearly festival in Iceland moved now permanently to Reykjavík. Established in 2010, it is Iceland's longest-running festival focusing on electronic music and related arts.

Reykjavík International Film Festival

September - October For eleven days every fall since 2004, Icelandic people and tourists go to the cinema to enjoy the best and freshest in international filmmaking.

Sequence Art Festival

October The aim of the festival is to produce and present progressive visual art with a special focus on time-based mediums, such as performance, sound art, video and public interventions.

Imagine Peace Tower

Lit annually on October 9thThe Imagine Peace Tower is a work of art conceived as a beacon to world peace by the legendary artist, musician, and peace advocate, Yoko Ono. The work is designed in the form of a wishing well from which a powerful tower of light beams. The words IMAGINE PEACE are inscribed on the well in 24 different languages.

Art Without Borders

October Art Without Borders is an annual art festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. It showcases art from all art forms by disabled artists and supports collaborations between artists. The festival was founded in 2003 during the European Year of People with Disabilities.

Far Fest Afríka Reykjavík

OctoberFAR Fest Afríka Reykjavík is a musical and cultural Festival, held every year at the beginning of October in Reykjavík City.

Opera Days

October - NovemberThe aim of the festival is to organize high-quality and varied events in ordinary and unusual places; promote innovation and experimentation, and strengthen the working base of singers and their collaborators

Unglist - The young people's art festival

November Unglist, The Young People´s Art Festival is a platform for young artists, writers, musicians, dancers, and designers, in short for all young creative people between 16 -25 years old in Iceland´s capital

Iceland Airwaves

NovemberIceland Airwaves is a critically acclaimed international music festival showcasing the hottest new international bands and the best up-and-coming Icelandic artists.

Raflost Festival of Electronic Arts

NovemberRAFLOST electronic art festival is an annual boost to the grass root of Icelandic electronic arts.

Reykjavík Dance Festival

November For four days, we’re taking over the city with a festival of national and international dance, performance and choreography.

New Year's Eve in Reykjavík

December 31stJoin 200,000 people on New Year's Eve as the city's population unleashes an unforgettable epic display of fireworks! This legendary night is very much created by the people of Reykjavik who collectively do an amazing job.