Icelandic Holidays, Celebrations & Traditions – Ep.23

Because the holiday season is right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to share the list of Icelandic holidays and traditions they celebrate throughout the year. Some of the traditions might sound the same or similar to some of your traditions while others might be completely new to you. Icelandic Holidays, Traditions & Celebrations 1. Fyrsti Vetradagur - First Day of Winter As I am recording this, it is October and the next holiday tradition coming up is fyrsti vetradagur, which is the first day of winter. It is the  Saturday that falls between October 21st and 27th and is according to the Old Norse calendar. If you are curious about what winter in like in Iceland, here is the link to my podcast episode “How to Survive an Icelandic Winter”. On this day, merchants on Skólavörðustígur, the street that leads to Hallgrimskirkja church, hand out free meat soup. From this day until the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year, the length of daylight decreases rapidly. 2. Jólabókaflóðið - The Christmas Book flood The beginning of November is the start of Jólabókaflóðið or the Christmas Book flood. During this time, the list of newly published books is announced in Iceland. Giving a book on Christmas eve is a longstanding tradition in Iceland that started during World War 2. Books weren’t as expensive back then, so families could offer to give them as presents. The bulk of books sales for the year happens at this time. Every person gets a book in the family to take to bed with them. I think it is lovely that after dinner and opening gifts on Christmas Eve, that Icelandic people cozy up with a book and some chocolate. After Christmas, everyone talks about the books they have read and give their opinion on it. 3. Dagur Íslenskrar Tungu - Icelandic Language Day It is celebrated on November 16th, which is the same day as the birthday of 19th-century poet Jónas Hallgrímsson. Even though not every Icelandic person celebrates this day, most, if not all, are very proud of their language. In my second podcast episode, which is a brief history of the Icelandic language, I talk about the committee that was formed to preserve the language. Dagur Íslenskrar tungu was created because Icelandic people feel it is important to protect their language. Sometimes there are gatherings to celebrate this day. 4. Icelandic Sovereignty Day December 1st is Sovereignty day, not to be confused with Icelandic Republic Day on June 17th. On this day in 1918, Iceland signed the Act of Union with Denmark, which recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state but was still united with Denmark under a common monarch. Before Icelandic Republic day, this used to be a national holiday and people had a day off from work. While it is no longer a day that people have off, many people still fly the Icelandic flag and observe it in their own way. I’ll talk more about Icelandic Republic day later on in this podcast. 5. The 13 Icelandic Yule Lads Come to Town The Christmas holiday season is in full swing in December. People have already decorated their houses with lots of colorful lights, there are festive activities and people are extra cheery. I feel like it kicks into high gear when the 13 Yule Lads or 13 Santa Clauses start coming to down to town from the mountains. The first comes on December 12th and they arrive one by one until the last lad is in town on December 24th,