Benedikt Jóhannesson is an Icelandic publisher, businessman and politician. He is the founder and former chairman of Viðreisn and served as Iceland’s Minister of Finance from January 11, 2017, to November 30, 2017. We are publishing an essay he p...

Many of the most notable events in Icelandic history took place in what is not much more than a city block in downtown Reykjavik, from the arrival of the Vikings to the Pots and Pans Revolution during the economic crash. Join two historians and forme...

On August 22, Reykjavík’s annual Culture Night festivities will take place for the 30th time. As per usual, the city’s programming for this day is staggering, and to help you navigate the endless options, we present you here, with our highlights...

That's all.  

David Byrne reinvented the concert film in 1984 with director Jonathan Demme. The Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense became iconic for its opening boombox providing the backbeat and the lead singer’s big suit costume. As a solo act over the past de...

On August 22, nearly one-third of Iceland will once again come to Reykjavík to celebrate Menningarnótt (Culture Night). This is the day where every street turns into a block party, every garden becomes a stage and teenagers have their first drink(s...

You know the rules. Name that sheep. Tell us the name of this specific sheep. Email us at: sheep@grapevine.is. If you get the right name, and you’re in Iceland, you win a hot dog, made in part with sheep. One guess per email address please. Not in ...

So, let's talk about Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. He came, he agitated, he got exactly what he wanted. This is what he does. While his visits to some countries go unnoticed, he got a lot of attention in Iceland, and he's still milking it on social media. U...

Less than three hours after leaving Iceland, I’m descending over a maze of tiny islands and icebergs scattered across impossibly blue water and land in the brand-new airport in Qaqortoq, South Greenland’s biggest town. Qaqortoq is home to around ...

Iceland has long cultivated an image of exceptionalism. Its purported uniqueness has been both a source of pride and a useful political argument. The idea that the island has always stood apart from the rest of Europe has repeatedly surfaced in debat...

“Find the Oystercatchers, and you’ll find the Little Auk.” This was the SMS instruction I got from one of my good birder friends, as I set sail from Dalvík on a Monday morning at nine, having driven from Reykjavík just past midnight. My trust...

A total eclipse of the sky West Iceland experienced a total eclipse on August 12. For those trying to glimpse this celestial event from the ground, most of west Iceland was however blanketed by a thick cloud cover, the exception being a few locations...

My first open mic in 2010 was a complete and fantastic disaster. I immediately forgot everything I had planned to say as I stepped onto the small stage in a cafe in Virginia. I gulped and closed my eyes, hoping that I could recall anything. But nothi...

In a sense, stepping into Kolaportið in the old customs building across the street from the harbour in Reykjavík is like a trip back in time, not just because of the antiques they sell, but because it harkens back to a slower, less fancy society. W...

Time and Water (Um tímann og vatnið) premieres on August 27 at Háskólabíó, in Icelandic with English subtitles. The next night it will be shown on a regular schedule at Bíó Paradís, which is serving as its local theatrical distributor. The f...

To live is to suffer. One way to deal with the pain is to find elaborate ways of expressing it. To take an example: it’s a little-known fact that the Danish language was designed to express the emotion of pain at all times; when the language is spo...

“It is getting a bit darker, but that could be the rain clouds,” my wife said as we stood with our kids in the Laugarneskirkja churchyard. The clouds did not part for Reykjavík during our once-in-600-years eclipse. In fact, it rained. And it was...

On August 12, 2026, Reykjavík was on the receiving end of a total eclipse. Inside the city limits, we received about 55 seconds of total eclipse 17:47. As one of many who gathered, it did indeed get dark, and quiet, during the eclipse. Like a bunch ...

My first exposure to Icelandic politics was watching the country’s prime minister bristle and flee a live TV interview when asked about his former partial ownership of an offshore company. Just a day earlier the organisation I had worked for at the...

We’re a fortnight away from a referendum on restarting accession negotiations with the EU. According to the polls, the result will be a coin toss. While much ink has been spilled on the timing of the referendum and the sitting PM’s lack of enthus...

In this episode we sit down with Icelandic musician, drummer, and cultural figure Sigtryggur Baldursson. We discuss Sigtryggur's tenure from 2012 to 2024 leading the Iceland Music export office, during which he lobbied Parliament to establish an inte...

For generations, Vitastígur sported stunning views of Faxaflói bay and Reykjavík’s mountain Esja. But that was then. Now anyone walking the old downtown street is greeted by the most hideous blight in the neighbourhood. A bleak, monstrous, 17-st...

If you choose to brave the roads west and risk the once-in-a-century congestion, you would be well-advised to make the trip about more than the two-minute eclipse. The longest time on offer is the two minutes, 13 seconds at the Látrabjarg promontory...

David Byrne is no stranger to our shores. He first appeared here in 1994, at which time he was still that guy from Talking Heads embarking on a solo career. His two sold-out shows in Háskólabíó with a small band is still remembered by attendees a...

“This is going to be our best performance ever,” frontman Stirnir Kjartansson of local indie/emo math rock band Trailer Todd says confidently. “No.. [for Sucks To Be You, Nigel], it is going to be our 7th best show,” guitarist Vigfús Þor Ei...

During the recent municipal elections, we noticed some of the great local civic accomplishments weren’t celebrated — or seemingly even noticed. For example, the local libraries. Throughout the summer, we’ll highlight the more notable programmes...

Growing up, I had a serious obsession with those What ___ are you? quizzes that used to fill the backs of magazines and early social media feeds. Which Harry Potter character are you? Which Renaissance painter? What Jurassic dinosaur? Long before any...

Some of the best international and local electronic artists will be playing, including Björk herself. “I feel like there are very few people in history who are this stressed about the upcoming eclipse,” Ronja says and everyone laughs. She is ref...

This issue features a Björk interview. Normally, that would put Björk on our cover. Every time she has been so kind as to grant us an interview, which is more often than you’d think (thanks Björk!) we’ve put her on the cover. But this time aro...

For an event designed to celebrate substantial gains of acceptance in the past decade, the organisers of Reykjavík Pride remain positive while making final preparations for the event. This remains even in the face of recent backlash, most recently i...

“The Akureyri music scene has completely shaped my personality,” Artistic Director of Mannfólkið Breytist Í Slím (MBS) Aldís Dagmar Erlingsdóttir tells me right before the festival starts. We are sitting down with some of the organisers of ...

Welcome to Iceland at a time of extreme international interest. While this issue is on the streets, this nation will be all over movie theatres, serving as Hell during Elliot Page’s excellent rants at Odysseus. We’ll also be, I assume, in travel ...

In this episode we sit down with Þorbjörg Þorvaldsdóttir, a linguist and seasoned municipal politician, to discuss the controversial decision to dismantle the Reykjavík Human Rights Office last June 25. Þorbjörg explains the vital role the off...

A few years ago, the most popular summer song on Icelandic radio was a slow lo-fi track with indie vibes by the band Hipsumhaps, that drew up a charming picture of an idyllic, cosy, and traditional Icelandic life, camping in nature, enjoying hot coco...

On the last cover of this magazine, Issue 10, 2026, we printed an image of a French tourist, caught in the act of illegal off-road driving in the Icelandic Highlands. The accompanying article covered how three French tourists, in two Land Rover Defen...

Shortly before midnight on July 31, 2026, the anti-whaling ship Bandero was boarded by the Icelandic coast guard and police. The vessel had been in Icelandic waters on and off for a little over a month shadowing whaling ships. Their goal: to frustrat...

The Reykjavík Grapevine’s in-house economists have been looking worried lately. They’re missing meals and are easily spooked, cringing at sudden shifts in the wind. It’s all inflation and Straits of Hormuzes with them. Recently they took the l...

Verslunarmannahelgi falls on the first weekend of August. It is the biggest travel weekend of the Icelandic year. Everyone is camping or at a festival or both. Þjóðhátíð in Vestmannaeyjar, Neistaflug in Neskaupstaður, Ein með öllu in Akureyr...

A half-dozen dates in Ireland and Amsterdam, internationally famous Alok Vaid-Menon chose Reykjavík and the opening night of Reykjavík Pride at Tjarnarbíó for the final performance of their show “Hairy Situation”.

You know the rules. Name that sheep. Tell us the name of this specific sheep. Email us at sheep@grapevine.is. If you get the right name, and you’re in Iceland, you win a hot dog, made in part with sheep. One guess per email address please. Not in I...

“If I could, I would do no interviews. All musicians are probably like that. They would just prefer to let the work talk,” says Björk, settling with her matcha latte into a chair in an empty greenhouse, Reykjavík’s skyline looming against the...

Some of you may be familiar with that piece of fan fiction known as Hamlet, Will Shakespeare’s rewrite of the classic Amlóða Saga. But reimaginings, sequels and spin-offs have been a part of literature from the beginning. The Odyssey takes a rela...

Few phrases in the Icelandic tongue can be as breezily delivered as “þetta er gjöf en ekki gjald,” a phrase one could translate as “it’s a gift rather than a price,” meaning that this particular thing is so cheap it’s basically free. Yo...

At 24:00 on July 31, 2026, the Iceland Coast Guard and Special Forces boarded the protest boat Bandero, taking control of the large vessel. According to the Coast Guard, the Bandero entered Icelandic waters at 18:00 on July 30. “This is the biggest...

It became known colloquially as the þjóðvegahátíðin, or “highway festival”, of 1994. On June 17 that year, tens of thousands rushed to celebrate 50 years of Icelandic independence at Þingvallahátíðin in the Þingvellir national park. Or...

Asking Trump for EU permission The Centre Party’s (Miðflokkurinn) fight for Icelandic sovereignty against foreign influence took a rather interesting turn recently, when MP Ingibjörg Davíðsdóttir bemoaned the fact that the government had not m...

The powerful and playful minimalism of Karin Sander makes artworks that exceed themselves, turning the museum into a playground.

A lost American sparrow brings birders to Miðdalur and raises questions about what makes a bird truly wild.

During the recent municipal elections, we noticed that some of the great local civic accomplishments weren’t celebrated — or seemingly even noticed. For example, the local libraries. Throughout the summer, we’ll highlight the more notable progr...

Two women — one armed with a hi-def video camera — and a child visited the Secret Lagoon (Gamla Laugin in Icelandic) in March 2015. Nothing particularly unusual about such an excursion to Iceland’s oldest geothermal pool in the small village of...