Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of the lambing season at Brimnes, a farm in the north of Iceland, in April 2008. Sheep farmer Arnar Gústafsson and his girlfriend Edda Björk take shifts watching over the nearly 300 ewes and helping them give birth 24/7 for about two months or until the last lamb is born. In Iceland, the arrival of lambs is synonymous with the arrival of summer. The lambing season is currently at its height.
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Located just 40 minutes by car and six minutes from Keflavík International Airport, Sandgerdi (“Sandy Hedge”) is a growing town of 1,700 with a storied history and loads to see. Read this special promotion about the hidden secrets of one of Iceland's most charming seaside villages.
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The annual celebration Kærleikar (“Love Games”) takes place today at Austurvöllur square in central Reykjavík, starting at 2 pm. Its goal is to encourage a feeling of companionship, show support for one another and emit a positive vibe.
From the 2009 Kærleikar. Photo by ESA.
The celebration opens with a few speeches on love, followed by a march around the Reykjavík Pond alongside musicians and street artists. Afterwards the choirs of Reykjavík will perform together under the direction of conductor by Gróa Hreinsdóttir, as stated on the event’s Facebook site.
Other participants include troubadour Svavar Knútur, search and rescue team members, the theater group Perlan, the volunteers of Worldwide Friends and visual artist Gegga. The Kærleikar were first held in 2009 at the initiative of author Bergljót Arnalds.
All are welcome; people are encouraged to wear something red.
Also coming up is the Reykjavík Winter Lights festival, February 9-12, including the Museum Night on February 10 when the capital’s museums will stay open until midnight with surprise guests and special events, as stated on reykjavik.is.
February 11 is International Children’s Day, followed by a Pool Night. Swimming pools around the city will be open until midnight with various artists performing at the pools.
All of the events during the Winter Lights Festival are free. For further information on the program, visit the festival’s website or download the latest issue of the free guide What’s On in Reykjavík.
ESA
Magnús Skarphéðinsson, principal of the Icelandic Elf School, has expressed his concern that Independence Party MP Árni Johnsen may be subject to an accident after relocating a boulder allegedly inhabited by elves to his home in the Westman Islands.
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The first music festival this summer, Reykjavík Live, kicks off with concerts in the center of Iceland’s capital tonight and will carry on through May 20. The venues are Gamli Gaukurinn, Glaumbar, Prikið and Frú Berlaug.
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President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and his main rival for the presidential election on June 30, Þóra Arnórsdóttir, are supported by an almost equal number of voters, 41.3 and 43.4 percent, respectively, as indicated in a new survey.
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The West Fjords District Court ruled on Monday that a man found guilty of having drowned a Labrador by tying its front and hind legs, fastening it to car tires and throwing it in the ocean is to pay ISK 100,000 (USD 786, EUR 612) in fine.
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The current issue of the quarterly magazine Iceland Review includes interviews with fashion photographer Saga Sig and conceptual artist Rúrí. Also, we take you to Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum, that desolate land coveted by a Chinese tycoon, and also explore Icelandic archeological remains. We discuss the Icelandic Church, the flourishing gaming industry, debate the future of Iceland’s energy resources and interview the president of the Icelandic National League of North America. Subscribe now and receive a free photo book by IR’s editor Páll Stefánsson of the Eyjafjallajökull eruptions. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and here to buy a gift subscription.
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The Reykjavík Shorts&Docs was held in Reykjavík from May 6 to 9 in Bíó Paradís, and what an enriching experience it was to attend the festival.
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Shedding light on Iceland’s thousand-year history, as manifested in remains ranging from Viking graves to enchanted sites, Mannvist is a fundamental piece of writing. Ásta Andrésdóttir met with its author, archaeologist Birna Lárusdóttir.
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“The House Project” currently on display in Hafnarborg, the Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art, is a new artwork by Hreinn Friðfinnsson consisting of a photography series of the three houses. His work is described as “a poetic and philosophical exploration of every day human experience.”
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