Winter in Reykjavik

Reykjavík offers you endless possibilities while staying in the city during winter – festivals, cultural events and then there are always the many swimming pools as well as the endless sky where you can watch the dance of the northnern lights. 

Dark Music Days, 26-28 January

The festival of contemporary and new music takes place at the concert hall Harpa and is said to be a platform for performing and getting to know new music with an emphasis on new Icelandic compositions and performers in addition to international artists. The focus of Dark Music Days lies on works with mixed techniques where the boundaries of contemporary music performance are explored.   (http://www.darkmusicdays.is)

Winter Lights Festival, 2-5 February

The festival celebrates both the winter world and the growing light after a long period of darkness. The program they offer is an adventorous mixture of art and industry, environment and history, sports and culture. You can visit all the major museums, thermal pools as well as the Reykjavík Ski Resort. Beautiful light installation will brighten up the city. (http://www.winterlightsfestival.is)

Reykjavík International Games, 26 January – 5 February

The city of Reykjavík welcomes sports participants to a multisport competition in Laugardalur on 26 January – 5 February. The games will be a part of the Winter Lights Festival. The biggest venue of an OFF VENUE PROGRAM is the WOW Northern Lights Run. (http://www.rig.is)

Sónar Reykjavík, 16-18 February

Sonar Reykjavík is a festival of advanced music and new media art and presents the current electronic musical landscape and its interactions and hybridization with other artistic disciplines. (https://sonarreykjavik.com)

Food and fun festival, 1-5 March

World-renowned chefs collobarete with the city’s finest resturants during the annual Food and Fun festival on 1-5 March and will create gourmet menus with fresh Icelandic ingrenients. Enjoy! (http://www.foodandfun.is)

Reykjavík Folk Festival, 2-4 March

The three day music feast celebrates the diversity and breadth of the Icelandic folk music scene; the folk music is a phenomenon that has a long history in Iceland from the rhyme songs of the old Nordic sagas. The festival will be held in Kex Hostel and if you attend, you’ll probably experience something unique. (https://tix.is/en/event/3535/reykjavik-folk-festival-2017/)

Design March, 23-26 March

Many find Icelandic design cool. During Design March you’ll get to know the newest from Icelandic designers be it fashion or furniture, architecture or food design. Design March presents the best of Icelandic design alongside exciting international names. This year, there will be over 100 events; exhibitions, workshops, seminars and parties. (http://designmarch.is)

Reykjavík Fashion Festival, 23-26 March

This year, The Reykjavík Fashion Festival will be held in Harpa on 23-26 March. The festival provides a platform for emerging Icelandic designers (http://www.rff.is) (https://www.facebook.com/reykjavik.fashion.festival/)

Reykjavík Art Museum

There are many interesting museums in Reykjavík. Reykjavík Art Museum is the largest art museum in Iceland and is housed in three distinct buildings - Hafnarhús, Kjarvalsstaðir and Ásmundarsafn. Hafnarhús is home to the Erró Collection – the Icelander Erró being one of the pioneers of pop art in Europe. In Hafnarhús they also exhibit progressive and experimental art by renowned Icelandic and international contemporary artists. Then it’s Kjarvalsstaðir that houses the works of one of Iceland’s most influential and recognised artists, Jóhannes S. Kjarval, and also exhibit paintings and sculptures of the established masters of modern art. In Ásmundarsafn they exhibit works by the Icelandic sculpture Ásmundur Sveinsson. In the museum, they always display works by him but also hold exhibitions of works by other artists. (http://artmuseum.is)

Reykjavík City Museum

The museum attends to heritage preservation in Reykjavík and also maintains registers of archaeological finds and historical houses and buildings in the city. You can visit Árbær open air museum, the Settlement Exhibition, the Maritime Museum, the Museum of Photography and the Viðey Island. (http://borgarsogusafn.is/en)

Concerts

Harpa is a concert and conference center in Reykjavík and home for example to the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera. The building itself is like a work of art made of lot of glass, and there they offer various events like concerts of all kinds. (https://en.harpa.is/?_ga=1.61624748.1274499181.1440681691)

Swimming pools

Reykjavík has many thermal pools and spas because of the country’s pure thermal energy and laying in one of the open air swimming pools in the city you can maybe watch the dance of the norhern lights after visiting an interesting museum and before you attend one of the restaurants during Food & Fun or a concert in Harpa.