Events and Festivals

Reykjavík Culture Night is both created and enjoyed by city residents and takes place all across central Reykjavík in August, with celebrations in the streets and squares, in museums, businesses and residential gardens! Reykjavík Culture Night marks the start of the city’s cultural year, when museums and theatres and other cultural institutions launch their annual programme of events. The main objective of Reykjavík Culture Night is to deliver a diverse and rich offering of cultural events from 1-11pm, ending with a magnificent firework show by the harbour. All events are free of charge for everyone to enjoy. Reykjavík Culture Night is organised and produced by the events team at Visit Reykjavík, in collaboration with other city departments, organisations, artists, societies and countless others.

 

The main objective of the Winter Lights Festival is to illuminate the dramatic darkness of winter with a collection of sparkling events, which both celebrate and emphasize the beauty of Reykjavík. To accentuate further the extraordinary contrasts of light presented during winter, a number of quality light-art installations are exhibited, illuminating spectacularly some of the city’s most prominent buildings and public spaces, consequently enabling festival guests to experience the city from a new and exciting perspective. Core events of the Winter Lights Festival include a number of selected light-art commissions together with the popular theme nights: Museum Night and Pool Night.

 

The Reykjavík Children’s Culture Festival is a week long arts and culture festival dedicated to children and youth up to the age of 16, and strives to introduce the youth to a wide range of arts disciplines through the medium of workshops and performances. The unique aspect of this festival, and that which sets it apart, is that it places an emphasis on participation, focusing particularly on the child as an artist. During the festival there will be a variety of activities for children, including theatre workshops, circus, visual arts, storytelling, music, film, puppetry and dance activities, with many kindergartens, primary schools, music and art schools, libraries, museums, theatres and other cultural institutions taking part.

 

Apart from the city's superb official events, such as the Reykjavík Children‘s Culture Festival and Culture Night, there's also a diversity of critically acclaimed film festivals, design events, fabulous fan-fests and music festivals, celebrating everything from the arrival of summer, to the city's wealth of fascinating culture.

 

Reykjavik's Event Calendar.

Annual events in Reykjavik.