Top Summer Festivals in Iceland 2018

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Looking for a festive time in Iceland this summer? Then you have come to the right place! You can go to a small-town to large summer festivals every single weekend in the summer. I have put down a list of the best ones in each month 🙂

June

Secret Solstice is one of the biggest and most popular events held in Iceland. It’s a 4-day event packed with music over the brightest days of the year! The performers are both well-known as well as exciting up and coming bands or singers. It was first held in the summer of 2014 which means this year is its fifth anniversary.

When? June 21st-24th 2018
Where? Laugardalur, Reykjavík
More information: http://secretsolstice.is/

 

Bíladagar or Car days in English: This is an event for the car lovers held by Akureyri Car Club. Car shows, racing competition, drifting and general car show-offs feature this weekend. The club was formed in 1974 and the car days has been held annually ever since.

When? June 15th-18th 2018
Where? Akureyri, North Iceland
More information: http://www.ba.is/is/english

July

Goslokahátíð in Westman islands is an event where locals celebrate the end of a big eruption that happened on the island between January and July in 1973. This year it’s 45 years since the eruption finally stopped so if you’re in Iceland in this time frame, go over to Vestmannaeyjar and check out this event where locals decorate the town in black and orange in eruption colours and have small concerts here and there around town. Meanwhile, you can check out Eldheimar museum where you can learn about the story behind the eruption that happened in 1973.

When? July 5th-8th 2018
Where? Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar
More information: https://www.facebook.com/goslok/

 

Írskir dagar or “Irish days” in Akranes, only an hour away from the capital, residents in Akranes host a small town festival. They host competitions in all kinds of sports such as handline fishing and making sand castles. There are family friendly concerts throughout the day and in the evening, they have concerts for the young-adults and adults. The most interesting competition in this festival is “The most red-headed Icelander”

When? July 6th-8th 2018
Where? Akranes, West Iceland
More information: https://www.facebook.com/IrskirdagaraAkranesi

Eistnaflug is a weekend in the East filled with rock & roll! This is a metal festival that has been held annually since the summer of 2005 in the small town Neskaupstaður, which is located on the Eastern coast of Iceland. Normally, Neskaupstaður has about 1.400 inhabitants but on this weekend that number at least doubles!

When? July 11th-14th 2018
Where? Neskaupstaður, East Iceland
More information: https://eistnaflug.is/en/

August

The first weekend in August is the biggest weekend in the summer in Iceland. In Icelandic, it’s called Verslunarmannahelgi which means the annual shopkeepers holiday. All over the country, people celebrate this longer-than-usual weekend in many ways.

Þjóðhátíð in Westman islands is the most popular festival and also the biggest. This weekend is celebrated with numerous concerts and other events for all ages! The atmosphere in Heimaey (The name of the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago) over this weekend completely changes to this unique “Þjóðhátíðarstemning” or Þjóðhátíð atmosphere. Those who have attended the festival know what I’m saying 🙂

When? August 3rd-6th 2018
Where? Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar
More information: https://dalurinn.is/en

For those who don’t like boats or planes can instead drive to Akureyri or Ísafjörður over the weekend where you can find two amazing festivals as well!

The second most popular event this weekend I would say is “Mýrarbolti” in Ísafjörður. In English, we can call it Swamp soccer, where you can, yes you read that correctly, play soccer in a swamp field! It’s really messy but also really fun! During the day you play soccer in the swamp, and WOW it’s difficult! You get exhausted after one game and in the evening you can enjoy music and a whole lot of partying IF you still have some energy left!
To participate, you have to form a team and sign up for the European Championship of Swamp soccer, which is held every year either the last weekend of July or the first weekend of August.

When? August 3rd-6th 2018
Where? Ísafjörður, West Fjords
More information: http://www.myrarbolti.com/english/ 

 

If you’d rather stay in a city like Reykjavik or Akureyri you can of course, do that as well! In Akureyri the festival is called “Ein með öllu” or in very bad English “One with everything” where they have concerts and all kind of events for all ages 🙂 In Reykjavik they have something very similar, a music festival for all ages all day, over the whole weekend and it’s called “Innipúkinn” or in English “the sofa animal”.

Ein með öllu
When? August 3rd-6th
Where? Akureyri, North Iceland
More information: http://www.einmedollu.is/is/english

Innipúkinn
When? August 3rd-6th
Where? Reykjavík
More information: http://innipukinn.is/

Fiskidagurinn mikli, the Great fish day in Dalvík is usually held the second Saturday in August. The theme of the day is preparing and eating delicious fish. The menu changes from year to year. Local people are crazy about it and go back year after year to enjoy everything related to fish, everything from fish burgers or fish soups to some good ol’ boiled fish with potatoes. The day is not all about eating, the entertainment is also a big part of what makes this festival so great! Examples of entertainment are the fish exhibition where multiple fish species are on display, cruises of the fjord, art exhibitions and music of all kinds is on the stage throughout the day and in the evening.

When? August 11th, 2018
Where? Dalvík, North Iceland
More information: http://www.fiskidagurinnmikli.is/is/moya/page/english

Come and join us for one (or more) of these festivals this summer!

Do you have any questions or comments? Comment below 🙂

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