News

Bóndadagur is a day where Icelanders celebrate husbands, fiancés and boyfirends. This takes place during the first day of Þorri in the fourth month of winter, according to the ancient Norse calendar. The master of the house was therefore supposed to rise before the rest of the household on the first day of Þorri to welcome Þorri with a special ceremony:

He was to exit the house, wearing only his shirt and dressed in just one leg of his pants, and then hop around the house on one foot, all the while dragging the other pant-leg behind him. After these strange schenanigans a large feast was organized with people from neighbouring farms in attendance.

By other accounts Þorri was to be greeted by the housewife, while the master of the house was to welcome the month of Góa (the fifth month of winter that began on a Sunday between the 18th and 24th of February): The first day of Góa is Konudagur, a day of celebration of the housewife.

Shopping in Iceland is usually not a very budget-friendly activity. Luckily for shopping-enthusiasts, there’s a large number of thrift stores in the Reykjavik area. These stores sell all kinds of stuff, ranging from household wares to rare gems of fashionable clothing and jewellery. Iceland seems to have a knack for this kind of aesthetic, it's almost as if the best things just continue to circulate on the island and never leave – an organic sifting process, where a lot of treasures can be found!

Here is a list of thrift shops in the Reykjavík capital area:

1. Hertex, Garðarstræti 6
2. Hertex, Vínlandsleið 6-8
3. Samhjálp, Ármúli 11
4. Basarinn, Háaleitisbraut 68
5. Góði Hirðirinn (Good Sheperd), Fellsmúli 28
6. Von & Bjargir, Grensásvegur 14
7. Rauði krossinn (Red Cross), Laugavegur 12
8. Rauði Krossinn,  Skólavörðurstígur 12
9. Rauði Krossinn, Laugavegur 116
10. Rauði Krossinn, Mjódd
11. Rauði Krossinn, Strandgata 24
12. Kolaportið (Fleamarket), Tryggvagata 19
13. Nytjamarkaður ABC, Víkurhvarf

...now | Páll Stefánsson

...now is the title of a new exhibition with photos by the Icelandic Photographer Páll Stefánsson that will be opened at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography on Saturday 19 January at 15:00.

After thirty-seven years as a traveller and photographer, it’s the silence that is most memorable. The howling silence in the endless wilds of the Vatnajökull glacier. The oppressive silence of Cox‘s Bazar in Bangladesh, where half a million refugees had lost the ability to speak.

I’m not looking back: this show is about the present, the moments I am capturing here and now. Refugees on the move, a fast-flowing river that moves inexorably on. A woman half-hidden behind a tussock or hillock. A hillock that becomes a mountain. A fine-looking man who has nothing. Not even a future.

If a place captivates me, I seize the moment.... now.”

Páll Stefánsson was born just south of the Arctic Circle, in the Öxarfjörður district of north Iceland, in 1958. He studied photography in Sweden in the last century, 1979-82, and is now a Sony Global Imaging Ambassador. Páll has published 37 books, which include images of the neighboring mountains, as well of a Coptic girl in Alexandria and of long shadows on the yellow sands in Önundarfjörður in Iceland’s West Fjords.

 For more information go to: 

http://borgarsogusafn.is/en/reykjavik-museum-of-photography/exhibitions/now-pall-stefansson

https://imagingambassadors.sony.net/ambassadors/pall-stefansson/ 

Celebrating Icelandic Christmas Tree Traditions

December is one of the most magical months in Reykjavík. Marking the beginning of the holiday season, for more than half a century, is the lighting of the iconic Oslo Christmas tree on the Austurvöllur Parliament square, followed by lighting of Christmas trees all around the capital area such as in Hafnarfjörður Heritage Harbor, Mosfellsbær Mountain Borough and Kópavogur Culture Hill. Each event is celebrated by young and old honoring Icelandic Christmas tradition by gathering around the trees do dance, accompanied by brass bands and choirs singing Christmas carols and hymns. If you want to experience how Icelanders have danced around the Christmas tree through the centuries you should visit Árbær Open Air Museum. There you can also participate in traditional Christmas activities such as making of traditional leaf bread, spin yarn, make candles or ornaments. The Yule Lads are likely to make their way down from their home in mount Esja engaging in their regular business like peeping through windows, slamming doors, licking spoons, snatching sausages and other Christmas foods. An alternative way to get the feel of Christmas is to visit Reykjavík City Hall and have a walk through the Christmas forest, decorated by three thousand and five hundred children in Reykjavík with ornaments made from recycled material. 

Laugardalur Christmas Valley Walk

Christmas is all around in Laugardalur where Christmas lights set the mood for a festive advent. Prepare for a day out visiting the Reykjavík Botanic garden, a peaceful place with a beautiful arboretum, ponds and birdlife. In the garden you find Café Flora where you can stop during weekends for hot chocolate, mulled wine or jólaglögg, and delicious cakes, enjoy live music, book readings and other fun weekend-events. Reykjavík Family Park and Zoo will be decorated with colorful lights and the smell of delicious Christmas baking fills the air. All the animals will be in a special Christmas mood and the sheep will have their yearly Christmas shear, a cut off their woolen fleece. At the Skating Hall in Laugardalur you can ice-skate around a beautifully decorated Christmas tree to the sound of lively Christmas songs. Skaters of all ages can rent skates and helmets and swing on the skating rink with Christmas creatures who regularly put on shows on the ice. A perfect visit on a walk through the Laugardalur is Ásmundarsafn, the Museum and sculpture garden of Ásmundur Sveinsson, exhibiting works of modern and contemporary artists. Finally, there is nothing like soaking in hot water underneath a starry sky in Laugardalur thermal pool at the end of the day, but taking the so called “Christmas bath” is an Icelandic tradition everyone can participate in.

The Book-Flood before Christmas

Reykjavík is a UNESCO City of Literature and literature is celebrated in various ways in the city. By tradition, books are the single most popular Christmas gift item in Iceland and during this time, books are quite literally the talk of the town. Icelanders have a term for this – the Christmas-book-flood - which may sound strange or even horrific in English, but the Icelandic word “Jólabókaflóð” is familiar and dear to every Icelander. In the spirit of this bookish season, we highly recommend a visit to one of the local downtown bookstores, most of which are open until 10 pm. There you can enjoy a warm drink at the book café and browse the selection of books by local authors in translations, including books about our beloved Yule Lads. You may also want to take a relaxed literary stroll with your private guide by the aid of our free app Reykjavik Culture Walks. You will find walks in English, Spanish and German. The Icelandic literary tradition goes all the way back to the settlement time and for those curious to dig into the past, the exhibition Points of Views at the Culture House gives some visual insight into this legacy. Or you can pay a holiday visit to the house of Iceland’s only Nobel laureate, Halldór Laxness in nearby Mosfellsdalur valley, where he lived and wrote for over half a century. This warm home is now a museum, left exactly as it was when the writer and his family lived there.

Christmas Markets in Reykjavík

There will be three Christmas Markets worth visiting in Reykjavík this Christmas. One is in Hafnarfjörður, one in the centre called the Christmas Market in Hjartargarður and the third one is located on the outskirts of the city in the nature reserve Heiðmörk.

 A feast of sights and sounds, the Christmas Village in Hafnarfjörður offers live entertainment, visits from the Icelandic Yule Lads, horse-drawn carriage rides and quaint village of Christmas houses selling everything from Icelandic design and craft to snacks and hot drinks. Don't forget to try some of the homemade Icelandic delicacies.

The Christmas village is open every Saturday and Sunday from 12:00-17:00 during Advent.

The Christmas Market at Hjartagarður will be at the heart of downtown Reykjavík. The Market at Hjartagarður provides you with a genuine christmas spirit with handmade Icelandic products, foods, and other products while enjoying live christmas music.

The market will be open from the 13th of December until the 16th and again from the 20th to the 23rd.

In Heiðmörk; the woods on the border of Reykjavík, one can visit the Reykjavík forestry societies  Christmas Market. On weekends in advent, families visit to buy local craft-, design- and food products at the market, choose their local Christmas tree and enjoy a hot chocolate.

The market prides itself with an ambitious culture program, and every day writers and musicians visit to read for children around the bonfire, and read and play music in the café.

The icelandic jule lad is also known to visit these parts on advent.

For the more adventures types, the forestry society also provides saws and guidance for those that want to venture to find and chop down their own tree.

Celebrating its twentieth year in 2018, Iceland Airwaves Festival is the world’s most northerly music showcase and industry festival, situated halfway between North America and Europe. Iceland Airwaves brings together the country’s brightest emerging musical talent and forward-thinking international acts.

Each November for four days and nights, downtown Reykjavík comes alive, filled non-stop with music, with performances hosted everywhere from tiny record stores and art museums, to cool bars and stately churches, to nightclubs and large scale venues.

For two decades Airwaves has shone a spotlight on new talent, with early appearances from the likes of Mac DeMarco, James Blake, Sufjan Stevens, Young Fathers, Sigrid, Dan Deacon, Florence and The Machine, Hot Chip, Caribou, Dirty Projectors, Zola Jesus, Micachu and others, along with many local luminaries such as GusGus, múm, Singapore Sling, FM Belfast, Of Monsters and Men, Ásgeir, sóley, Sin Fang, Kaleo, Mugison and Retro Stefson, all of whom have gone on to great success.

Across the years, established acts such as Björk, The Flaming Lips, The Knife, Kraftwerk, Sigur Rós, John Grant, Mumford & Sons, and Fleet Foxes have chosen to join music fans and delegates from over 50 countries for a truly dynamic four days of music and festivities.

Iceland Airwaves is also an invaluable opportunity to connect with musicians, agents, journalists, promoters and managers from around the world, to build new relationships whilst celebrating some of the world’s latest musical discoveries and game-changers.

Launched in 1999 as a one-off event in an airplane hangar, Airwaves has since become Iceland’s longest-established festival and best recognised music brand, and an integral part of Reykjavík’s yearly cultural calendar.

This year Iceland Airwaves will take place 7-10 November, 2018.

Iceland Airwaves is now promoted and produced by the concert company Sena Live, with support by Iceland’s national airline and founding sponsor, Icelandair, and in cooperation with the City of Reykjavík. The full schedule for this year can be seen at icelandairwaves.is or on the Iceland Airwaves app.

IMAGINE PEACE TOWER in Viðey Island will be illuminated for the 12th time in a beautiful ceremony on Thuesday October 9th at 8 pm. The programme starts at 5:45 pm and lasts until 9:00 pm.

On Culture Night the whole of downtown Reykjavík becomes one big pedestrian area. It will be closed to vehicles from 07.00 until 02.00. This arrangement aims to ensure safety.

With Travable, disabled travelers can find restaurants, pools and other attraction based on their accessibility. The information is gathered via users' submission and ratings.

Improv Ísland has become hugely popular in recent years. Finally, their shows are available in English!

At National Icelandic Horse competition you will have an opportunity to meet up close with the Icelandic horse and see some of the most beautiful creatures in the country.

The World Cup's Kick-off is tomorrow, June 14th. This year Icelanders are incredibly excited since our national team qualified for the first time in history - the world's smallest nation to do so!

Hafnarfjörður has dubbed itself as the town of Vikings. It's home to Fjörukráin, Reykjavík's only Viking-themed tavern. Here you're also able to attend the annual Viking Festival!