KEX Port ’24: Entertainment In The Front, Grilling In The Back

KEX Hostel’s block party KEX Port sees its final iteration

Kex Hostel’s block party KEX Port, a regular fixture of the local festival circuit, may very well see its last iteration this year. The festival says its final farewell on July 13 as the synonymous hostel prepares for renovations.

Earlier this spring, news of Kex Hostel’s upcoming closure as an events venue started circulating. Visiting the place, large construction barriers have walled off a large area as tradesmen work on renovating the hostel’s lower floor.

Despite Kex’s plans to eliminate events from September 2024 on, affable booking manager Óli Dóri keeps his chin up. Although this is probably his last summer in the old cracker factory, Óli Dóri is determined to make this year’s KEX Port as good as possible.

“This has been going on for longer than I’ve been here,” explains Óli Dóri, who took over the booking reins at Kex in 2020. Originally starting in 2012 as a collaborative effort between Kex Hostel and the Seattle-based radio station KEXP, KEX Port has consistently managed to host a full day of festivities during a notorious summer lull. Throughout July and until the first weekend of August — Iceland’s Verslunarmannahelgi holiday weekend — events in Reykjavík tend to be fewer.

“KEXP recorded every show during KEX Port, but the last of those were probably in 2016,” Óli Dóri reminisces. Following construction work on the festival grounds — the hostel’s backyard (“port” in Iceland, hence the name) — the festival pivoted temporarily to an indoors celebration called KexPakk.

Just your regular block party

Though Kex has hosted a multitude of happenings throughout the year, KEX Port can be considered its flagship event. The festival’s block partyambiance has always been its specialty. Focusing on a full day of performances from established and up-and-coming artists, KEX Port ensures non-stop entertainment from early day to late night. Admission is free, doubling down on the friendly community aspect of the festival.

“We’ve got beer taps outside and sometimes we’ve even grilled. We usually schedule it in mid-July so we can count on the weather,” Óli Dóri says. “But the main emphasis has been on picking up artists that are active and who make sense for this atmosphere every year. We book artists who are entertaining and who can also deliver a party.”

I’m very grateful for every single guest that’s walked through these doors in the last four years.

This focus on entertainment results in a wide range of different artists coming together at KEX Port. Varying between indie-rock, electronica, hip-hop, pop and DJ sets, there’s something for everyone. “We try to have a lot of variety because we want to get everyone here. It’s a fun party, during a time when there aren’t a lot of people in Reykjavík.”

Rapidly growing, suddenly diminishing

Throughout the years, Kex Hostel solidified itself as one of the most active live venues in Reykjavík — a totally unbiased statement, seeing as snagged the Grapevine’s 2023 Best Of award “Best Bar for Live Music.” But even without any such commendations, the venue’s value in Reykjavík’s diminishing live landscape is uncontested. Hosting shows featuring artists at dramatically different stages in their careers, Kex has managed to draw a breadth of different audiences to its live events, avoiding stereotypic confinement.

According to Óli, this development solidified during his reign. “Back in the day, Kex used to host a lot of events, but they probably weren’t focusing as much as I did on live music,” he says.

During Óli Dóri’s onboarding in 2020, he decided to amplify the burgeoning indie scene while also catering to more established acts. “I decided to focus on the grassroots, mixing things in with popular acts that made sense alongside everything else.”

A final farewell

While concertgoers mourn the loss of Kex Hostel as a venue, KEX Port presents itself as the culmination of the Reykjavík music scene. This year, Óli Dóri admits he couldn’t have curated it better. “I think I was very lucky this year. Usually, I haven’t managed to book everything that I’ve wanted. I’m very proud of this lineup and I’d say this is the best one I’ve put together.”

During this final farewell, Óli Dóri expects happiness and a celebration of this venue, “which has been at the heart of music in Reykjavík since 2012. I’m very grateful for every single guest that’s walked through these doors in the last four years and all the great artists that have played throughout the years.”

KEX Port’s final iteration will happen Saturday July 13 at Kex Hostel. Starting at 14:00, the full line-up consists of artists Cyber, Hermigervill, Hipsumhaps, Inspector Spacetime, Karitas, Kef LAVÍK, Skrattar and Spacestation. See you there!