News

H2015: First Annual Downtown Water Fight

On Thursday April 23rd, 66°North invites the people and guests of Reykjavík to a water fight on Lækjartorg square!

  • Four fights will happen every fifteen minutes from 2 pm to 3 pm.
  • Two teams of ten people compete in each fight.
  • Contestants should register to compete on the 66°North Facebook page and announce themselves at Lækjartorg square no later than 1:45 pm. Free spaces will be filled on the spot.
  • Contestants are given water pistols, water balloons and buckets of water. 
  • Contestants are also given rain clothing but we recommend wearing rubber boots or other waterproof shoes.
  • The first team to finish their ‘arsenal’ of water wins.

Age limit: 16 years.

Come join the WONDERWAGON – an old concert bus visiting the Reykjavík art scene
We have a new cultural activity in Reykjavík. For those with interest in Reykjavík music and art, we present the WONDERWAGON!
 
In the Wonderwagon you will be taken on board an old concert hall on wheels dressed with chandeliers and a grand piano.
You will travel into the wonders of Reykjavík Art scene and enjoy the talents of local artists on personal notes.  Local authors, painters, musicians and other artists living in Reykjavík will enter the concert bus and entertain with various scenes as well as introducing us to their personal art work in their workshops and homes.
 
Music will fill the air all along the ride, the piano lingering along with the driving through Reykjavík roads blended in with accordion and other road tunes. Enjoy getting to know Reykjavík artists in an amusing and pleasant road trip with a twist.
 
Hosted by Eva María Jónsdóttir television host, Nanna Hlíf Ingvadóttir pianist and Ilmur Stefánsdóttir performance artist.
 
 
 
 

Imagine Peace Tower relights for the week of March 20 - 26
This evening, March 20th at 21:00, the Imagine Peace Tower relights for a week, to celebrate spring equinox and the wedding anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Lennon and Ono were married on this day in the year 1969. The world's most rememorable honeymoon followed, when they put on the "Bed-in-Peace" protest agains the Vietnam War.  
 
March 20th, 2015 couldn't be more remarkable. Today is the international day of happiness,  with a solar eclipse this morning and not to forget, it's spring equinox, when daytime and night are of approximately equal duration.
 
We senserely advice people to enjoy this peace inspired light for the next seven days. The Imagine Peace Tower can easily be seen from Reykjavik and live at Viðey island. It can also be seen on live feed at http://imaginepeacetower.com 
 

For those who want more Elding also offers an even­ing tour dedica­ted to the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER and John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s cont­inu­ing campaign for world peace.

The depart­ures are from Ægis­garður, the Old har­bour at 21:00 from 20 — 26 March

Price for the ferry and a gui­ded tour
– Adults 5.500 ISK
– Children 7–15 years old 2.750 ISK.*
– Children 0–6 years old Free.*
*with adult supervision

 

Food & Fun Festival: February 25th - March 1st, 2015

The ever-popular Food & Fun Festival kicks off in Reykjavik on Wednesday, February 25. This exciting event combines outstanding culinary expertise, fresh natural ingredients, Icelandic outdoor adventure and the world-famous Reykjavik nightlife to create the ultimate recipe for fun!

The core element of the festival involves world-renowned chefs who collaborate with Reykjavik’s best restaurants. Each chef is assigned to one of the participating restaurants, where they prepare a special menu made solely out of Icelandic ingredients. The menu is presented at all the restaurants for an entire week. In addition, the chefs themselves are onsite for the three nights during the festival.

The second element of the festival is the chef competition, which takes place on the last day of the festival. The competition is unique because while all the chefs possess exceptional culinary skills, they may not have worked with Icelandic ingredients before.

The chefs come from all over the world but primarily from America, Europe and Scandinavia. At the end of the week, one of them will be crowned the “Food & Fun Chef of the Year,” which is an honor that has become very respected in the culinary world over the last decade.

The festival plays an important role in introducing and promoting Icelandic ingredients to foreign chefs, media and tourists. In 2011, National Geographic magazine chose the festival as one of the best culinary festivals in the world.
The festival is sponsored by its co-founder Icelandair, The City of Reykjavik and Iceland Naturally. Stay up to date with all the festival’s news by liking them on Facebook!

New Film Festival Coming to Reykjavik in February
The Stockfish Film Festival will promote European productions, industry networking, filming locations and tax rebates available in Iceland.

Selection of new exhibitions at Reykjavík Art Museum 2015

Six new exhibitions with works by around 100 artists will be opened at Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús, Kjarvalsstaðir and Ásmundarsafn, in the coming months.

At Kjarvalsstaðir the exhibition Pulse of Time by Einar Hákonarson will be opened on January 17th. He has been a productive artist and shown his works regularly for decades. The paintings on the exhibition span the artist’s career for over 50 years. At the same time the exhibition Poetic Colour Palette, from the Kjarval Collection will be opened at Kjarvalsstaðir. The exhibition includes among other works, drawings made on transparent plastic or acrylic sheets. Cory Arcangel’s exhibition All the Small Things will be opened in Hafnarhús in January. Although Arcangel is only in his thirties, he has already made a name for himself in the art world as a pioneer who combines digital technologies with art. Reykjavík Art Museum gives an overview of painting in Iceland today on the exhibitions Just Painted 1 and II which will be opened at Hafnarhús and Kjarvalsstaðir in February and March.  There paintings by 85 Icelandic contemporary painters of all ages, who have different approach and ideologies, will be displayed. The new exhibition in Ásmundarsafn commemorates the centenary of Icelandic women gaining the right to vote, under a royal decree of 19 June 1915. Ásmundur Sveinsson’s iconic sculpture Vatnsberinn /The Water Carrier (1937) is the focus and the leitmotiv of the exhibition which is called The Water Carrier: Mountain+Woman. The exhibition will include, in addition to the Water Carrier, a selection of Ásmundur’s other sculptures, in a colloquy with works by Arna Valsdóttir, Daníel Magnússon, Kristín Gunnlaugsdóttir, Níels Hafstein, Ólöf Nordal, Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir and Sigurður Guðmundsson. You can find more information about the exhibitions here.

A new video about Erró
Guðmundur Guðmundsson (b. 1932), better known as Erró, is without a doubt the best known contemporary artist of Iceland. Exhibitions from the Erró collection are a regular fixture at the Hafnarhús site of the Reykjavík Art Museum, with the purpose of giving as clear an image as possible of the diverse character of the artist's works.
 
This new video shows the connection between Erró and the Reykjavík Art Museum- Hafnarhús.
 
 
 

December in Reykjavík kick off

"December in Reykjavík" has kicked off with an agenda full of festive activities for the coming weeks. Apart from an emphasis on extravagant festive illuminations, the December in Reykjavík festivities focus on themes of peace, harmony and true Icelandic traditions. Christmas lighting and decorations will bring the Christmas spirit to our city in an old fashioned style with Christmas lights, bells and numerous Christmas trees.

Recipients of the 2014 Lennon Ono Grant For Peace

YOKO ONO has announced the four recipients of the 2014 Lennon Ono Grant For Peace, the biennial award which she inaugurated in 2002.

Previous recipients of the award have included Doctors Without Borders,
Josh Fox, Michael Pollan, Alice Walker, The Centre for Constitutional Rights, Pussy Riot and the late Rachel Corrie.
 
This year’s awards, which will be presented in Reykjavik, Iceland, on October 9 ( John Lennon’s birthday) go to the following;
 
JANN WENNER     Co-founder and publisher of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine
 
JEREMY GILLEY   Founder of the non-profit organisation Peace One Day
 
Art Production Fund:  DOREEN REMEN AND YVONNE FORCE VILLAREAL
 
JON GNARR  Politician and former Mayor of Reykjavik
 
Yoko said of the four recipients; “In the ’60’s Jann made rock n roll a household name single-handedly promoting it within the press. Jeremy Gilley, with Peace One Day, made it easy for all people to join the Peace movement. Art Production Fund is an ambitious public arts project created by Doreen Remen and Yvonne Force Villareal, whilst Jon Gnarr showed the world that governmental politics are for the people and by the people. I am very happy to honour each of these four recipients this year with the award that, for me, symbolises much of the work that John Lennon and I tried to do together and which I now continue to do”.
 
Since 2007 Yoko has travelled to Iceland to lead ceremonies commemorating John Lennon on October 9, his birthday. On that day she illuminates IMAGINE PEACE TOWER, a vast tower of light which is situated on the island of Videy. The tower is lit from that day until the day of Lennon’s death, December 8.
 

Another eruption at Holuhraun

Another fissure eruption started around 04:00 GMT Sunday on the same fissure which erupted Friday.

The eruption is located at Holuhraun north of Bardarbunga volcano, about 250 km in direct line from Reykjavik. This area is one of the most remote places in Iceland, with no permanent inhabitants nearby. Popular tourist attractions located near the eruption site, including parts of Iceland's largest national park, remain closed.

According to scientists, the latest eruption is roughly the same size as the one at Eyjafjallajokull in 2010, which grounded flights throughout northern Europe. However, no volcanic ash has been detected on radar, and the Icelandic Met Office has thus lowered the aviation alert level from red to orange, meaning no flight restrictions are in effect.

Click here for a live webcam from the eruption

The eruption is over - lasted 3-4 hours

The fissure eruption in Holuhraun lava, north of Vatnajökull glacier, which started at midnight, is already over. The eruption lasted for about three or four hours, according to Páll Einarsson, professor geophysics at the University of Iceland.

"It was a small eruption and a small sample of the magma that is moving underground reached the surface," says Páll, describing the events of the night as an aberration in the larger course of events of the last two weeks.

 

Small Eruption North of Vatnajökull

Key points:

  • No immediate threat to people or populated areas
  • Airspace and all airports, international and domestic, are open.
  • No volcanic ash has been detected with radar systems
  • There are no signs of flooding


Volcanic Activity
An eruption has started North of Vatnajökull Glacier. No volcanic ash has been detected with the radar system at the moment. The wind conditions in the area are wind blowing toward NW at 12 m/s at 5 km altitude. Seismic eruption tremor is low indicating effusive eruption without significant explosive activity.
At this time there are no signs of immediate danger or flooding in the area, and nothing to indicate that this will affect flight traffic.
The aviation warning area has been reduced to 5.000 foot altitude. All Icelandic airports in Iceland are open. The Icelandic Transport Authority has issued a restricted area three nautical miles around the volcano and up to 5000 ft. over the ground. 


Precautionary measures
Because of this The Police authorities have decided to close and evacuate the area North of Vatnajökull.This decision is a safety measure. The eruption is in an uninhabited area, but there are hiking trails in the area. No civilians are considered to be in any danger at this time.

The Icelandic Met Office has raised the aviation color-code to red over the eruption site, in accordance with procedure. The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, has decided to raise the Civil Protection phase to emergency phase, due to the eruption. This is also in accordance to procedure.
All roads leading into the area are closed as they have been since the seismic activity began in Bardarbunga on the 19th of August. Anyone travelling in the area or planning travels in/close to the area is referred to www.safetravel.is

Source: iceland.is

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