President Halla Tómasdóttir will deliver the keynote address at Iceland’s National Day ceremony in Reykjavík on June 17, marking a break from the tradition of the Prime Minister delivering the speech. PM Kristrún Frostadóttir will still participate by laying a wreath at the Jón Sigurðsson memorial during the event at Austurvöllur Square.
Significant departure from tradition
This year’s National Day celebrations at Austurvöllur Square in central Reykjavík on June 17 will see a significant departure from tradition, Vísir reports. Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir has invited the President of Iceland, Halla Tómasdóttir, to deliver the keynote address—an honour historically reserved for the Prime Minister.
According to a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister quoted by Vísir, the day’s official events will begin with a celebratory church service at Reykjavík Cathedral (Dómkirkjan), followed by the public ceremony at Austurvöllur. In addition to the change in speaker, the ceremony will be made more accessible and open to the general public than in previous years.
Initially suggested by Guðni Th.
As noted by Vísir, the suggestion that the President take on this ceremonial role was first made by Halla Tómasdóttir’s predecessor, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. In his farewell address to the Althingi (Iceland’s parliament) last summer, he remarked: “I have not wished to raise the matter publicly while still serving as President, but in light of the unique constitutional and societal role of the President of Iceland, I believe it is fitting for the head of state to address the nation on National Day, rather than the Prime Minister, as has traditionally been the case.”
He further noted that the Prime Minister, as a political leader who speaks regularly on behalf of the government or their party, occupies a fundamentally different position than that of the non-partisan President.
Former Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson did not support the proposal at the time. “I’m fundamentally a conservative, and there is a very long-standing tradition in Iceland for the Prime Minister to address the nation on June 17. I don’t see any particular reason to revisit or rethink that tradition,” Bjarni stated.
PM to lay wreath at Jón Sigurðsson memorial
As noted by Vísir, the ceremony at Austurvöllur will be broadcast live on the national broadcaster RÚV, with live radio coverage of the church service starting at 10:15 a.m.
As part of the programme, Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir will lay a wreath on behalf of the Icelandic people at the statue of Jón Sigurðsson, a 19th-century leader of Iceland’s independence movement and a central figure in the country’s national identity.
The ceremony will also feature a speech by the Fjallkonan, or “Mountain Woman”—a symbolic figure in Icelandic culture representing the spirit and dignity of the nation. Traditionally portrayed by a woman in Icelandic national dress, the identity of the Fjallkonan is kept secret until she steps forward to address the crowd.
Following the formal proceedings, a ceremonial procession will make its way from Austurvöllur to Hólavallakirkjugarður, a historic cemetery in the western part of Reykjavík.
Further information about the National Day celebrations, including road closures in the capital, is available at www.17juni.is.
June 17 Programme at Austurvöllur Square, from 11:00 a.m.:
- Graduale Nobili choir sings Yfir voru ættarlandi (Over Our Ancestral Land)
- Prime Minister lays a wreath from the Icelandic people at the statue of Jón Sigurðsson
- A choir sings the Icelandic national anthem
- Keynote address by the President of Iceland
- Choir sings Hver á sér fegra föðurland (Who Has a Fairer Fatherland?)
- The Fjallkonan (Mountain Woman) delivers her address
- Brass players from the Iceland Symphony Orchestra perform Ég vil elska mitt land (I Want to Love My Country)
- A procession departs Austurvöllur for Hólavallakirkjugarður cemetery via Suðurgata at 11:50 a.m.
