Culture Night 2024 - Reykjavík's anniversary and city festival
Culture Night in Reykjavík is on Saturday, August 24, 2024. The festival is the highlight of summer with nearly 400 fun events coloring daily life in the city center all day. There's plenty to do. New this year: garage bands at Iðnó, three full operas, an improv marathon at the National Theatre, an arts festival for Þórarinn Eldjárn's 50th year as an author, a carnival on Bergstaðastræti, and an outdoor bench press competition. Guests can also count on many old favorites like the brass band battle, concerts, performances, and art exhibitions across the city. The festivities end with fireworks at 11pm.
Culture Night is Reykjavík City's anniversary celebration. On August 18, it was 238 years since Reykjavík received its town charter.
During the festival, the city center becomes one large pedestrian street. It's closed to car traffic from 7am to 1am the next day. The opening ceremony is in Hjartagarðurinn at 12pm. Mayor Einar Þorsteinsson opens the festival. Reykjavík's Art Group, the stage group Óður, will perform an opera aria and rapper Cell7 will take the stage.
All events at Iceland's largest cultural festival are free for guests.
An art festival will be held in the garden of author Þórarinn Eldjárn's home to mark his 50th anniversary as an author. There will be stand-up comedy, poetry readings and performances of Þórarinn Eldjárn's newly released Dótarímur (Toy Rhymes).
The republic's garage bands will come out of the country's garages on Culture Night 2024 and play all kinds of punk, pop, rock and blues. Life and fun - rock and roll - at Iðnó!
Kramber and Kramhúsið invite you to a dance and music feast on Culture Night. DJs, dance performances and dance lessons will be outside in true city center spirit. A flea market by Góði Hirðirinn will be at Bergstaðir from 1pm to 6pm. As evening approaches, a packed program of known and unknown DJs will keep the mood up until 11pm.
Benni Hemm Hemm's Women's Choir at Safnahúsið
Benni Hemm Hemm & The Choir were a hit at Tjarnarbíó earlier this year with the sold-out show Ljósið & ruslið. At the Culture Night concert, you can listen to never-before-performed songs mixed with the Choir's greatest hits.
Trinity Night - three operas in one day - Þjóðleikhúskjallarinn
The stage group Óður, Reykjavík's Art Group 2024, will hold a comic opera marathon in Þjóðleikhúskjallarinn. Óður has taken the Icelandic opera landscape by storm since 2021, and their comic operas, The Love Potion, Don Pasquale and Post-Jón, have attracted people from all walks of life, both die-hard opera lovers and those who have never seen an opera before. Hoping audiences will understand what they're singing about, they translate the operas into Icelandic and perform them much closer to the audience than many consider normal.
Improv marathon on the main stage! - Improv Iceland
Improv Iceland's improv marathon has been an essential part of Culture Night since 2014. A fresh improv show will be offered every half hour from 3pm to 10pm. The marathon has always been very popular, with demand exceeding capacity. Given this huge audience, an agreement has been reached with the National Theater to hold the improv marathon on the main stage this year.
Culture Night bench press competition - Ármann Powerlifting Division
Ármann's Powerlifting Division fulfills an old dream of holding an outdoor bench press competition in downtown Reykjavík. The competition is for men and women of different ages.
Culture Night concerts at KEX - Kex Hostel
KEX Hostel will hold magnificent outdoor concerts in the courtyard celebrating the grassroots of Reykjavík's music scene.
All parade routes lead to Hörputorg
For the first time, the Reykjavík Brass Band, Svanurinn Brass Band and the Workers' Brass Band unite in a parade in the capital. Over a hundred brass players march from three locations; Hafnarstræti, Austurvöllur and Lækjartorg, unite on Kolagata and march through Reykjastræti to Hörputorg. Harpa, Landsbankinn and Hafnartorg are jointly creating a true carnival atmosphere at Hörputorg and the surrounding area to celebrate the square's completion in its final form.
Brass band battle at Hörputorg
The annual brass band mud fight takes place on Culture Night. The fight is to the last note and sportsmanship is not what creates opportunities. Bribes, deceit, cheating, nepotism and tricks are what count in this competition. This is a spectacle with power, but the fun is above all else. Svanurinn Brass Band, the Workers' Brass Band and the Reykjavík Brass Band face off with no quarter given.
LGBT+ poems break into the sound systems of several bars and clubs in Reykjavík. The event is in collaboration with the international literary festival Queer Situations.
This is just a fraction of the diverse events on offer. All information about Culture Night's program can be found on the website.
Street closures on Culture Night
On Culture Night, the city center becomes one large pedestrian street. The area will close to vehicle traffic from 7am until 1am the following day. This closure ensures safety for pedestrians and drivers on the busiest festival day of the year. Culture Night guests are encouraged to walk, cycle or use public transport to get to the festival area.
Accessibility for disabled people is considered, with good access to parking lots throughout the city center, wheelchair platforms in front of stages at Arnarhóll and Hljómskálagarður, sensory spaces for people with sensory processing issues and Pant transport service for disabled people driving to the city center.
Those who need to drive can use parking lots at Borgartún and in Laugardalur. Free shuttles will transport people to and from the festival area from 7am to 12:30am. As required by law, illegal parking will result in fines. Vehicles blocking access for police, ambulances, and fire trucks will be towed to ensure access for these safety services in case of emergencies.
Map of Culture Night festival area
Strætó public transport
Free Strætó Shuttles
Strætó shuttles, provided by Reykjavík City, will run between Laugardalshöll Arena and Hallgrímskirkja from 7:30am to 12:30am. The shuttles are free.
Regular fares apply on Strætó buses during the day with increased frequency while the festival program is running. Stops where buses will stop can be seen in the timetable for all routes on straeto.is/en. The route planner will be updated to show timetables and trips throughout the day.
After the festival
Strætó's route system in the capital area will be disrupted at 10:30pm and all available buses will be directed to Sæbraut by the Sun Voyager (Sólfar). From Sólfar, buses will depart to all neighborhoods in the capital area from 11pm to 12:30am. These trips are free of charge.
Night bus fares apply from 1am, but monthly and annual pass holders can use their cards on night buses.
Electric scooters
People are strongly encouraged to use electric scooters, an environmentally friendly mode of transportation to get to and from the city center on Culture Night.
In cooperation with e-scooter companies, the maximum speed of e-scooters will be reduced in the city center during Culture Night. Users will only be able to start and end trips at designated parking areas in the city center.
A map of street closures can be found on Culture Night's website, culturenight.is
Information about the festival, street closures and more is available at Reykjavík City's call center from 8am to 11pm on Culture Night, phone: 411-1111.
Family together
The program is free for guests, ensuring all guests can enjoy vibrant cultural life and good company.
You are warmly welcome to Reykjavík City's birthday celebration.
The festival begins at 12pm and ends with a fireworks display at Arnarhóll at 11pm.
Let's head home together.