Grapevine Events: Icelandic Sorcery Festival, Drag Expanded & So Much More

Ahead of Record Store Day on April 20, Grapevine’s journalists Jóhannes Bjarkason and Rex Beckett discussed the hottest happenings in town in our new events podcast. But if you’re feeling like you could squeeze a few more events into your weekend schedule, we’ve got you covered with the picks below.

For more event listings, check out events.grapevine.is.

Icelandic Sorcery Festival

Friday April 19 – Sunday April 21 — Hólmavík — 16.000 ISK for festival pass, single day passes available

For those interested in all things magical and spooky, this weekend’s can’t-miss event is the Icelandic Sorcery Festival held in Hólmavík in the Westfjords. The festival will welcome visitors with a series of concerts, workshops, and lectures, including learning to use herbs for magic, writing with runes, or maybe even designing your own tattoo with Celtic designs. Everyone’s invited to participate in the sacred Blót ceremony — a bonfire beach walk focused on community rituals. IZ

Encore! A Night With West End Stars

Friday April 19 — 20:00 Harpa – Eldborg — 5.990-14.990 ISK

Wishing you could experience the wonders of London’s West End but can’t be there due to budgetary constraints or being blacklisted from the U.K. due to your affiliation with the Icesave fiasco? That’s a 15-year-old joke. You’re welcome. Well, for one night and one night only, the heart and soul of London’s West End sets up shop in Harpa’s Eldborg, putting on a riveting show featuring performances from iconic musicals such as Wicked, Les Miserables and Cats. Witness London’s theatre scene and all of its glamour and glitz right here in Reykjavík! JB

Drag Expanded: Kings, Things and Creatures!

Saturday April 20 — 20:00 — Loft Hostel — Free entry (tip the artists)

For one fabulous Saturday night in April, let’s pretend Reykjavík is the drag capital of the world. Wear your shiniest outfits, and bring good vibes and cash to tip the artists representing the crème de la crème of the local drag scene. The event is free of charge and wheelchair accessible. IZ

Litla Gróðurhúsa Familia: Launch Event

Saturday April 20 — 18:30 — The Nordic House — Free

Remember the series of intimate gigs held last year at the greenhouse of the Nordic House? Of course, you do. This year, a brand new music and culture platform is launching at the same venue — Litla Gróðurhúsa Familia (LGF). LGF promises to focus on diversity, accessibility, inclusivity, cultural adaptation, and community building. Knowing the projects of the Nordic House, there’s no doubt the platform will live up to its description. IZ

Ragnar Kjartansson — Mother and Child, Gin and Tonic

Until April 20 — i8 Gallery — Free

Reykjavík’s enfant terrible, Ragnar Kjartansson is exhibiting a series of new paintings at i8 Gallery. Known for his medium-spanning works, Ragnar has created a series of still life paintings that explore the spectacle of life by alluding to the action of the person just outside the frame. As Ragnar’s 2009 Venice Biennale collaborator Páll Haukur Björnsson writes of the paintings: “Objects that in themselves have obscure meanings are perfectly significant within the ideological fantasy that is the artist.” CF

DesignMarch

Wednesday April 24 – Sunday 28 — Multiple events & locations

Design is ubiquitous and all around us. A sandwich maker can design the perfect meal. You ever been to a Subway? Looking past the apparent misnomer, DesignMarch brings together participants and guests through progressive design and innovation. The festival platforms countless artists, makers, thinkers and doers, who mediate their ideas through diverse exhibitions, performances and happenings around town. Parallel to the festival, the DesignTalks conference invites some of the leading voices in international and Icelandic design for a panel talk on April 24. JB