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Iceland Holidays and Festivals



Holidays and Festivals

Though Iceland's calendar is predominantly Christian, many official holidays and festivals have a secular theme, and at least one dates from pagan times. Some are already familiar: Christmas and Easter Monday are both holidays in Iceland and are celebrated as elsewhere in the Western world, as is New Year .

Harking back to the Viking era, however, Thorrablot is a mid-winter celebration originally honouring the weather god porri, and became something to look forward to during the bleakest time of the year. Held throughout February, people throw parties centred around the consumption of traditional foods such as svith and hakarl , with some restaurants also laying on special menus.

Sjomannadagur , or Seamen's Day (June 4), unsurprisingly, is one of the biggest holidays of the year, with communities organising mock sea-rescue demonstrations, swimming races and tug-of-war events. This is followed by another break for Independence Day (June 17), the day that the Icelandic state separated from Denmark in 1944. pingvellir , the seat of the original parliament east of Reykjavik which hosted the original 1944 event is a good place to head for, though everywhere throws some sort of celebration.

Verslunnarmannahelgi , the Labor Day Weekend, takes place around the country on the first weekend in August. Traditionally, everybody heads into the countryside, sets up camp, and spends the rest of the holiday drinking and partying themselves into oblivion; hit any campsite in the country at this time and you'll be sharing it with thousands of drunken teenagers. On Heimaey in the Westman Islands, pjodhatid is held on the same day

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and celebrated in the same way, though it nominally commemorates Iceland's achieving partial political autonomy in 1874.

One event to look out for, though it's not a single festival as such, is the annual stock round-up, or rettir , which takes place in rural areas throughout September. This is when horses and sheep are herded on horseback down from the higher summer pastures to be penned and sorted; some farms offering accommodation allow guests to watch or even participate.


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Iceland

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........

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yUR MOM`

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11/22/2008 5:55:02 PM