![](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-3-1-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&quality=99&ssl=1 )
There’s something strange going on outside Iðnó. A cluster of tall, black, bipedal reptiles stand with their backs to the wall, looking out over Tjörnin. They peer down over the heads of the crowd that has gathered for the spectacle. Their jaws gnash, their tails lash, and their blue-green eyes glitter until a gothic ringmaster yells out an indecipherable series of commands—then they’re off, striding through the streets of Reykjavík, emitting weird howling sounds, pulling at the trees around them, bickering with each other, and snapping at the heads of passers by. Children howl in terror and delight.
The Close-Act Theatre’s performance, ‘Saurus,’ is an attention-grabbing start to the 2018 Reykjavík Arts Festival. This sprawling multi-disciplinary event—usually held over several weeks in May or June—has often announced its arrival with similar show-stopping street performances. While it was once an annual fixture in Reykjavík’s cultural calendar, the festival became biannual after the 2016 edition. Its absence left a hole in the summer of 2017, so it’s with no small sense of anticipation that we dive into the packed itinerary of the festival’s opening day. Here’s what went down.
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-3 Close-Act Theatre's "Saurus" gets things underway](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-3-1.jpg?w=383&h=287&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-8 When dragons attack....](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-8-1.jpg?w=215&h=287&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-12 A beautiful performance at the opening ceremony](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-12-1.jpg?w=157&h=210&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-19 art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-19](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-19-1.jpg?w=280&h=210&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-22 Gaellyn Lea performing for the throng](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-22-1.jpg?w=157&h=210&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-29 What the heck? It's Gilbert & George](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-29.jpg?w=383&h=287&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-38 Next up, it's a spaced out sci-fi performance from Ásta Fanney, who is battling the Morphoclogs at Kling & Bang...](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-38-1.jpg?w=215&h=287&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-39 ... will she escape? We'll never know. It's already time for the next exhibition, an opening down at Harpa.](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-39.jpg?w=400&h=300&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-65 Daniel Lismore opens his beautiful exhibition of "looks," entitled "Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken." It's showing at Harpa throughout June. Check it out!](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-65-1.jpg?w=198&h=148&quality=99&ssl=1)
![art festival 2018 opening_Timothée Lambrecq_02062018-71 Finally, it's back to the festival hub for DJ Dominatricks, who round out the night with a stellar set of mashed up electronic music with visuals like the internet puking out its subconscious.](https://i0.wp.com/grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/art-festival-2018-opening_Timothee-Lambrecq_02062018-71-1.jpg?w=198&h=148&quality=99&ssl=1)
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