The longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice, is today. The sun rose around 3 am in Reykjavík and will set shortly after midnight. The day will be even longer in the northern part of the country; in Akureyri, the sun hardly sets at all.
Ólöf Arnalds. Photo by Árni Matthías Ingimarsson.
To mark the occasion, singer-songwriter Ólöf Arnalds will perform in two concerts at Café Flóra in the Reykjavík Botanic Garden on June 21 and 22, following up on her summer and winter solstice concerts last year.
Ólöf will perform songs from her upcoming third studio album, Sudden Elevation, along with older songs and covers. She will be accompanied by her long-term associate, bassist and composer Skúli Sverrisson.
Faroese singer-songwriter Eivør Pálsdóttir will perform in a duet with Mikael Blak in the Kaldalón hall of Reykjavík’s Harpa concert center tonight at 8 pm, also giving guests a taster of her upcoming album. The musicians are currently touring North America.
Christoph Schiller and Loïc Grobéty, who are known from the European jazz scene, will improvise when playing various instruments and tools at the record store 12 tónar on Skólavörðustígur in downtown Reykjavík today at 5:30 pm.
Icelandic veteran musician Bubbi Morthens will celebrate the release of his 36th album Þorpið with concerts at Austurbær in Reykjavík tonight at 8:30 pm and two days later at Hof in Akureyri.
Bubbi will be accompanied by all of the musicians who recorded the album with him, including guitarist Guðmundur Pétursson.
Troubadour Svavar Knútur and jazz singer Kristjana Stefáns will perform duets at their annual midsummer concert on the island Viðey off Reykjavík tomorrow, June 21. The concert begins at 8 pm and attendees should be at the ferry dock one hour earlier.
They will also perform at a midnight concert the same evening, starting at 11 pm. The concerts will be held outside, weather permitting, otherwise inside Viðeyjarstofa.
Those interested in “a dinner and show” must arrive on the island before 7 pm. Click here for ferry schedules.
June 21-23 the band Árstíðir will perform in three concerts in north Iceland, starting at Rauðka in Siglufjörður tomorrow, followed by concerts at Berg in Dalvík and Græni hatturinn in Akureyri. The band will tour Europe in July.
After today the days will gradually grow shorter again and reach their darkest point at the winter solstice, on December 21 this year, Morgunblaðið reports. The Icelandic pagan association, Ásatrúarfélagið, marks both events with special ceremonies.
The temperature will range between 10 and 16°C (50-61°F) today with the coldest weather forecast in the east. Southern Iceland might be rainy but the sky is more likely to be clear in the north, especially in the evening.
For tickets for concerts and other events, go to midi.is.
ESA
