Reykjavik Culture Night - photo: Raggi Th.
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Festivals and events in Reykjavík

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 2024

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

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 2024

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

March 1st Annually

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

April 23rd - 28th 2024

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
DesignMarch 2023 at Hafnartorg

April 24th - 28th 2024

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

April 23rd - 27th 2025

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!  

Iceland Innovation Week
Innovation Week in Reykjavík

May 12th - 16th 2025

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. 

 

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

June 1st - 16th 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

The First Sunday in June

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

June 14th - 18th 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

June 17th

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

Reykjavík Fringe Festival
Fringe festival

June 17th - 23rd 2024

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

August 2nd - 4th 2024

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

Reykjavík Pride

August 6th - 11th 2024

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
Culture Night - photo Raggi Th.

August 24th 2024

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
Promo image for Jazz Festival 2024

August 27th -31st 2024

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 and Iceland’s leading Jazz musicians. 

In the Field at Home
Í túninu heima - photo. Raggi Th.

August 29th - September 1st 2024

Join 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
Hamraborg Festival in Kópavogur City Area

August 28th - September 4th 2024

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

Reykjavík International Film Festival
Riff logo on Austurstræti street

September 26th - October 6th 2024

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
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.

Extreme Chill Festival
Extreme chill festival

October 2nd - 8th 2024

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

Lit annually on October 9th

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 2024

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

Far Fest Afríka Reykjavík
People playing African instruments

October 10th - 15th 2024

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 2024

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

Early November Annually

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

November 7th - 9th 2024

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

November 13th - 17th 2024

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
Fireworks over Hallgrímskirkja

December 31st

Join 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.

Check out current events

LHÍ Jam Session
Að standa á haus: DJ Jón Halldór
Að standa á haus: Sandrayati og Laglegt
Foreldrastund - What to read for the youngest?
Family morgning - What to read for the youngest?
RáðStefna – Conference on cultural policies
Special Gallery Talk for Annual Pass holders | Hallgrímur Helgason: Havoc
The funding environment of Icelandic art museums - A symposium
Special opening for with autistic people and individuals with sensory processing sensitivities
Christmas Flowers
Gingerbread Clowns | Silly Suzy & Momo
Classical music in Hjallakirkja
The Christmas Cat will appear at Lækjartorg.
Kahalii
Opening – Settlement and Kahalii
Pine cones and cozy
The hot, cold and frost-free greenhouse
J.S. BACH: Christmas Oratorio I-III & V in Eldborg Harpa Sunday Dec 29 2024 at 5 pm
🥁 Make Some Noise! - Idea Makers Workshop at Elliðaárstöð 🎨
Trippy Tiptoe Tour | From Time - To Time

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