Public Holidays in Iceland 2026: Dates & Traditions

One of the longest traditions of this day is the announcement and speech of the "Lady of the Mountain" (Fjallkonan), a female personification of Iceland. Even though Jón did live long enough to see his dreams of Iceland's independence come true, he's celebrated as a national hero and is featured on the 500 króna banknote. From 1262 until 1944, Iceland had been under the rule of kingdoms in Scandinavia, first Norway, then Denmark, so it was a huge moment when Iceland became an independent nation for the first time in 682 years. Depending on how close to the summer this weekend lands, it is a popular traveling weekend to explore the countryside after being hauled up inside during most of the winter.

Many swimming pools in Reykjavik are open on Maundy Thursday, and Icelanders love to spend their vacation time soaking in the hot pools and, sometimes, the sunshine. Just be sure to have your shopping finished as the shops won't be open until Saturday! This is also a popular day for young Icelanders to be confirmed into the National Church of Iceland, which is celebrated with their extended family with a large cake and plenty of presents. New Year's Day is a very important bank holiday in Iceland, as it would be cruel to force people to work after going all out celebrating the night before.

"Sumardagurinn fyrsti," or the First Day of Summer, has been a public holiday since 1971, but its history goes back much further to when Icelanders used the Old Norse calendar. Swimming pools are usually open, and some supermarkets will have limited opening hours. The Second Day of Easter, known as Easter Monday in English-speaking countries, is also a public holiday. In Reykjavik, bars open after midnight and only close in the early hours of the morning. In the afternoon, it's common to celebrate with a home-cooked meal, traditionally a roasted leg of lamb with all the trimmings.

Whit Sunday, as the name indicates, always falls on a Sunday, which is already a non-working day for most people, making it a pretty insignificant public holiday as far as getting a day off work or school. Traditionally, all shops used to be closed on the 1st of January, and the city center of Reykjavik mostly resembled a ghost town. In this article, we will go over each public holiday on the Icelandic calendar and tell you about why it's celebrated, what traditions the day carries, and to what extent stores and restaurants are closed during that day. If you plan ahead, you can enjoy both the festivities and the everyday charm of Iceland, from swimming in geothermal pools during quiet holidays to joining crowds in Reykjavik’s spirited celebrations. But it’s also worth remembering that public holidays can affect opening hours and services across the country.

Whit Sunday is a public holiday that commemorates the day when the Holy Spirit was revealed to the apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ. Schools and workplaces are closed, although restaurants and bars will be open in the center of Reykjavik. The first of these marches, however, took place all the way back in 1932 to protest the number of working hours in a week. This May Day tradition largely stems from the Cold War, when there was an active community of communist sympathizers within Iceland who adopted the custom from other left-leaning groups in mainland Europe. In Reykjavik, people take to the streets to demonstrate against misgivings they may have with the current state of affairs, and the procession is led by a brass band down the main shopping street, Laugavegur.

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Christmas Eve is somewhat of a formal affair, and people will wash and dress up for the occasion. If Icelanders are working in the morning, they will hurry home to prepare for the evening's festivities. The official public holiday starts after noon, and public transportation in Reykjavík stops at around 4 PM.

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This tradition of neologism remains to this day in Iceland, though it can be hard to break through in the times of the internet. Iceland has strict laws regarding which days people are allowed to raise the Icelandic flag on their flag poles. This tradition, which started in the 18th century, is (sadly) mostly gone these days and is certainly a strange take on the tradition of marking a cross on people's foreheads with ash, which still remains in Catholicism. It also marks the beginning of the Þorri season, when Icelanders honor their ancestors by enjoying traditional Icelandic food of various kinds at dinner parties or company banquets, called Þorrablót.

After the children read it out loud, older family members will usually be requested to explain these witticisms, as they can be quite cryptic for young minds. The eggs come in sizes numbered from 2 to 8, with the largest being enough to feed a family for a week. Easter Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus and is a public holiday. Held annually since 2004, the festival features free concerts by Icelandic artists and has become a well-known cultural highlight of the holiday. In Icelandic, this day is called "Föstudagurinn langi", or "The Long Friday," which may refer to how the day feels long because there's nothing to do. These laws are observed to the degree that bars close at midnight on Maundy Thursday and do not open again until Good Friday is over, exactly 24 hours later.

Despite this generally quiet atmosphere, one notable exception is the Aldrei Fór Ég Suður music festival, which takes place in Isafjordur in the Westfjords over Good Friday and Easter weekend. A majority of locals can enjoy these days off in the embrace of family and friends, meaning that many businesses around the country are closed, though it may differ depending on which holiday it is. Best Aurora Forecast in IcelandGet real-time cloud cover, solar activity, and the best viewing spotsFind the Northern Lights This guide covers the famous Ring Road giants and the lesser-visited falls in remote canyons, with di…

List of Public Bank Holidays in Iceland 2026

Every holiday mentioned in the previous list is a public holiday, meaning by law, employers and schools are required to give their employees or students a day off on that day. If you're not shooting off fireworks, it's a good idea to try to get to higher ground to marvel at this awesome display. As soon as Áramótaskaup finishes, the real fireworks show begins, reaching a feverish high point at midnight. It's an opportunity to share in festivities with neighbors and friends while keeping warm by the fire. New Year's Bonfires (Áramótabrennur) are lit all over the country and, following an age-old tradition of burning away the old year to welcome the new. Icelanders will enjoy a lavish multi-course meal with family before heading out to feel the warm glow of a bonfire.

• The Second Day of Christmas (Annar í jólum) is also a public holiday, and it is savored in a very similar fashion to Christmas Day.
• From long-standing Christian observances like Easter and Christmas to time-honored local festivities such as Bolludagur and Jónsmessunótt, each holiday offers a chance to experience Icelandic life in a meaningful way.
• The Icelandic calendar has many public holidays, boasting no less than sixteen leisurely days a year.
• On this day in 1918, the current flag officially became the flag of Iceland, with its red cross with white borders on a blue field.
• After plenty of family time, many choose to go out partying at night as the bars are open late and people don't have work the next day.
• Þjóðhátíð festival has been celebrated in the Westman Islands for over 100 years.

Parents often give their children a summer gift on this day, an Icelandic tradition that is 400 years older than the custom of giving presents on Christmas. It is a great time to explore the country on various summer tours in Iceland. Before the Julian Calendar was adopted in Iceland during the mid-11th century, people counted the days using a lunar calendar with 13 months.

The reason it's called the "Second Day" of Christmas is that in Iceland, Christmas, or "jól," lasts for 13 total days! Supermarkets will still be closed, but restaurants and bars in the center of Reykjavík will mostly function as normal. The Second Day of Christmas (Annar í jólum) is also a public holiday, and it is savored in a very similar fashion to Christmas Day.

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• In Icelandic, this day is called "Föstudagurinn langi", or "The Long Friday," which may refer to how the day feels long because there's nothing to do.
• This is also a popular day for young Icelanders to be confirmed into the National Church of Iceland, which is celebrated with their extended family with a large cake and plenty of presents.
• Now based in downtown Reykjavík, I write about travel, music, culture, and local experiences while helping businesses communicate through clear, effective copywriting and marketing.
• Iceland has strict laws regarding which days people are allowed to raise the Icelandic flag on their flag poles.
• New Year's Day is a very important bank holiday in Iceland, as it would be cruel to force people to work after going all out celebrating the night before.
• A majority of locals can enjoy these days off in the embrace of family and friends, meaning that many businesses around the country are closed, though it may differ depending on which holiday it is.

Maybe it's because of the https://uab.crowdicity.com/post/889651 especially harsh circumstances of this day in 1918 that a tradition of celebrating it never quite took a foothold in Iceland. On this day in 1918, the current flag officially became the flag of Iceland, with its red cross with white borders on a blue field. This festival originated in 1995 when it was decided in the Icelandic parliament that the Icelandic language should be celebrated once a year with a special day. As of right now, the President of Iceland is Halla Tómasdóttir, whose birthday is on October 11th, making it a flag day in Iceland.

Many bank holidays in Iceland are steeped in unique celebratory traditions, and the shared practice of these customs creates a strong feeling of community. You can visit the many celebrations in the countryside by renting a car in Iceland and driving there yourself, or explore the selection of culture tours available in Iceland for a better insight. Make sure to book your hotel in Iceland ahead of time if you're planning to go during a popular holiday.

Maundy Thursday

While the religious connotations of this day are totally gone at this point, the tradition still remains to stuff yourself with food and treats. During Lent, people used to fast for 40 days, the number of days Jesus spent fasting in the desert while enduring the temptation by Satan. Traditionally, this day precedes the Christian tradition of Lent, usually observed within Catholicism, which Iceland belonged to until 1550 when it turned Protestant. It's the time of year when you start seeing items like ram's testicles, sheepshead's paté, blood sausage, and fermented shark appear on the shelves of supermarkets around the country. These events typically combine traditional Þorri food, live music, speeches, and social gatherings, alongside smaller private Þorrablót hosted by companies, clubs, and families. This day is sometimes directly translated as "Farmer's Day," but the word "bóndi" is an old word and used to simply mean "head of the household" (related to the English word husband), but it usually refers to farmers these days.

• This is washed down with a non-alcoholic Christmas drink called Christmas Ale (jólaöl), which is a mixture of an Icelandic orange soda (Appelsín) and a syrupy malted beverage (straight-forwardly called 'Malt').
• Commerce Day is a unique Icelandic holiday originally dedicated to the merchants of Iceland, though now it's a public holiday everyone can enjoy.
• The official public holiday starts after noon, and public transportation in Reykjavík stops at around 4 PM.
• The Second Day of Easter, known as Easter Monday in English-speaking countries, is also a public holiday.

The ironic thing about this day is that while most people get the day off, people working in shops, to whom the day is supposed to be dedicated, usually have to work because it's such a big travel weekend. It's worth it to visit this charming island via Westman Islands tours outside of the time of the festival, when it's not full of people. From 1931 on, it was decided that this public holiday would fall on the first Monday of August, giving people a nice three-day weekend in summer. The Second Whitsun (Annar í hvítasunnu), also known as Pentecost Monday in some countries, is a true public holiday, giving people a nice three-day weekend.

Easter Sunday

This bank holiday weekend is called Verslumannahelgi, and many people leave the city to camp in the countryside, relax in a summer house, or join some of the many festivals around the country featuring live music and fireworks. Shortly after midnight, most bars open their doors, and some people go downtown for a good time, while some go to house parties around town lasting until the wee hours. Parties tend to last until the wee hours, and the downtown gets filled with people looking for a good time. As you can see, Iceland’s calendar is filled with a vibrant mix of public holidays and traditional celebrations that reflect both the nation’s history and its unique cultural spirit. After plenty of family time, many choose to go out partying at night as the bars are open late and people don't have work the next day. Nearly everything is guaranteed to be closed after this time, including shops and restaurants.

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• During Lent, people used to fast for 40 days, the number of days Jesus spent fasting in the desert while enduring the temptation by Satan.
• Shortly after midnight, most bars open their doors, and some people go downtown for a good time, while some go to house parties around town lasting until the wee hours.
• Held annually since 2004, the festival features free concerts by Icelandic artists and has become a well-known cultural highlight of the holiday.

A recreation of the flag supposedly used by Jørgen during his reign in Iceland. A great way to explore the country during this time is with the many available midnight sun tours in Iceland. While the midsummer festivals are much more prominent in Scandinavia than in Iceland, this day has a lot of Icelandic folklore surrounding it. However, this is also the time of midsummer, a celebration of the solstice. As Reykjavik is not really a hub of fishing anymore, while towns and villages around the country that still rely more heavily on the fishing industry for employment will celebrate this day more than the city folks in Reykjavik.

You can expect supermarkets and shops to be closed, but more bars and restaurants will be open than the night before. Some will use this day to indulge in festivities with extended family, attend large buffets at a relative's house, or host one themselves. The most famous of these festivals is called Þjóðhátíð, the "National Festival," and it is held on the picturesque Westman Islands. During this day, most workplaces are closed, and celebrations are held all over the country.

Shops will be closed, and you will have to make dinner reservations if you plan on eating out. Anyone can light fireworks, and many do, resulting in one of the most magnificent and breathtaking informal fireworks displays you could ever hope to see. The last Yule Lad leaves on the 6th of January, making it the 13th and last day of Christmas, simply called "The Thirteenth" (Þrettándinn).