February: “Þorrablót” (February-blood) – an old Viking tradition to celebrate the Viking gods and the month of Þorri. We no longer make animal sacrifices to the gods but the feast includes traditional Icelandic food of centuries past like dried fish, fermented shark, sheep-heads, haggis, pickled rams testicles and other strange food. This is washed down with Brennivín – burning wine aka Black Death. You can read more here.

April: The third Thursday of the month we celebrate the first day of summer “sumardagurinn fyrsti.”  This is often held in a last snow storm, just to remind us that winter will be here again soon.

May-June: The last Saturday of May or first  Saturday of June is the “Fisherman’s day” in Iceland.  In Skagaströnd it is a major event with festivities and competitions in things such as rowing and tug-of-war. It is held on June 6th in 2009.

June: Our independence day is June 17th with festivities also, although the fisherman’s day is bigger in Skagaströnd.

May through July: Skagaströnd is very close to the polar circle where the midnight summer sun never sets. The months of May through July are therefore very bright with only part dusk/dawn in the middle of the night

August: The other big festival of Skagaströnd is the country-days. Originally started by Hallbjörn the “country” king of Iceland. His radio station with its country music is possibly the only country and western radio station in Northern Europe.

September: The sheep and horse roundup is something not to be missed. This gathering of farmers, locals and tourists all trying to control a bunch of wild sheep and horses that are now brought back from the mountains is a feast for the eye.

November through January: Because of the latitude of Skagaströnd here again the sun plays a part with only about 3-5 hours of daylight and the sun barely above the horizon. This makes for very long and beautiful sunsets. The coldest time of the year is December through February but not as cold as you think (see climate section). If you want to experience snow and changing weather conditions this is the right time of year to visit.