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Reykjavík Festival City

Reykjavík City is a hotbed of activity all year round, with a remarkable number of annual festivals and seasonal events attracting countless festival goers and media attention from around the world.

Compiled below are various annual events.

Winter Lights Festival
Hallgrímskirkja lid up at a Winter Lights Festival

February 1st - 4th 2024

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

Dark Music Days
Dark music days logo

January 25th - 28th 2024

Dark 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 25th - February 4th

The 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. 

Stockfish Film Festival
stockfish

April 4th - 14th 2024

Stockfish 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
Harpa - Raggi Th.

March 15th - March 21st 2024

The Reykjavik Open is an annual chess tournament held in Reykjavik

Icelandic Music Experiments
Músíktilraunir

March 10th - 16th

Icelandic 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. 

Food and Fun Festival
Food

March 6th - 10th 2024

With 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.

 

The Annual Icelandic Beer Festival
Beer

1. March every year

The 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.

 

Reykjavík Children's Culture Festival
Children dancing on stage

18.- 23. April 2023

Children'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.

 

Design March
Design march

3.- 7. May 2023

Design 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 Blues Festival
Blues band playing

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.

Reykjavík International Literary Festival
Books in a shelf

19. - 23. April 2023

This 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!  

Raflost Festival of Electronic Arts
Raflost festival photo

May 2023

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

 

 


 

 

Reykjavík Arts Festival
arts festival

Next time in June 2024

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

 

Fishermen's day
People looking at lobsters

4. June 2023

One 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.

Viking Festival Hafnarfjörður
Víkingahátíð

14. - 18. June 2024

The 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
Woman in the Icelandic national costume walking

17. June 

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

Reykjavík Fringe Festival
Fringe festival

26. June - 2. July 2023

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
Band playing on stage at Innipúkinn festival

4. - 6. August 2023

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

Reykjavík Pride
People marching at a pride walk

8.- 13. August 2023

This 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
Fireworks on Culture night

19. August 2023

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
Jazz festival poster

23.-27. August 2023

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. 

Reykjavík International Film Festival
Riff logo on Austurstræti street

28. September - 8. October  2023

For eleven days every fall since 2004 Icelandic people and tourists alike go to the cinema to enjoy the best and freshest of international filmmaking.

Extreme Chill Festival
Extreme chill festival

October 2023

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.

Imagine Peace Tower
Imagine peace tower light beam at night with people

9. October 2023

The 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.

Opera Days
Reykjavik Opera Days

October 2023

The 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

Sequence Art Festival
People in golden suits as a part of an artwork

October 2023

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.

Far Fest Afríka Reykjavík
People playing African instruments

12-14 October 2023

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

 

Art Without Borders
List án landamæra myndir

October 2023

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.

Unglist - The young people's art festival
People in red outfits jumping at the same time

4. - 11. November 2023

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
band playing at airwaves

2.- 4. November 2023

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

Reykjavík Dance Festival
People dancing

Seint á árinu 2023

Reykjavík Dance Festival er alþjóðlegur vettvangur fyrir kóreógrafíu og tilraunir sem leitast við að skapa sterkt samtal við áhorfendur í gegnum verk þeirra listamanna sem hátíðin sýnir, styður og framleiðir.

Icelandic Music Experiments
Músíktilraunir

March 10th - 16th

Icelandic 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. 

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