Iceland Airwaves

It’s the hippest weekend on the music-festival calendar, according to Rolling Stone. And, famed for their hedonistic ways and astonishing capacity for alcohol, the Icelanders do give good festival. Taking place across six city-centre venues, including a church and an airport hangar, Airwaves is a debauched celebration of cutting-edge music and a showcase for emerging global talent – Klaxons, the Go! Team and Kaiser Chiefs have all played in the past couple of years. Reykjavík’s music culture is vibrant year-round, but it really goes crazy for Airwaves, which attracts the planet’s professional cool-seekers, as well as hip young things from across Europe and the US – and every party person in Iceland.

Highlights

The Blue Lagoon party on the Saturday afternoon, when everyone strips down to their swimmers for a dip in the thermal lagoon, serenaded by live music, is a memorable and magical way to recover from the night before. Sign up at your hotel or at the Tourist Information Centre, 2 Adalstraeti (+354 590 1550), which you’ll find in the middle of the old town, or on the phone with Reykjavík Excursions (+354 562 1011). It costs around ISK3,800 (about £30). Pick-up is usually opposite the IDA bookstore (2a Lækjargata), just around the corner from the Airwaves Information Centre, at midday. Return buses depart from the Blue Lagoon on the hour between 11h30 and 15h30.

In The Know

Head Count

Like the population of Iceland itself, attendance is small but beautiful, with around 4,000 music-lovers turning up.

Meeting Point

The bistro Hressingarskálinn – Hressó for short – is in the Airwaves Information Centre. The place is a buzzing hub for picking up passes, seeing bands being interviewed by journos and stocking up on festival T shirts and CD souvenirs. There’s free wireless internet access for all comers, and the food’s not bad, either.

Packing Tips

Whatever you’d normally wear, and a hefty dosage of B-complex vitamins/caffeine to keep you going. Leave plenty of room in your case to accommodate the stack of CDs you’re bound to want to bring back.

Escape

Wild natural beauty is the incredible ace up Iceland’s sleeve. Gullfoss waterfall, the geysers of Geysir, and the Thingvellir National Park, a group of wonders otherwise known as the Golden Circle, are among the geological wows you shouldn’t go home without seeing.

Dos and don'ts

• Keep an eye out for The Reykjavík Grapevine, Iceland’s English–language newspaper (www.grapevine.is). It carries substantial coverage of the festival and is distributed at Reykjavík’s cafés, hotels and concert venues the mornings of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• Don’t be late. Amazingly, when the schedule says a band is performing at 22h, they perform at 22h. Gotta love that Nordic talent for organisation.
• Give yourselves a break and stay on for at least one extra day after the sweeping up has begun – the scene at the airport on Sunday afternoon is pure chaos and you’ll have a much more relaxing return journey if you head for home on Monday instead.
• Catch up on sleep before you leave home. The action carries on all night, so you need to be raring to go!

Need To Know

Children

A definitive no from the organisers. Anyone under 20 isn't allowed.

Parking

This is an event for drinking and merry-making – you won’t want a hire car. You can walk between many venues on foot, and public transport is pretty reliable. Buses charge a flat fare of ISK280 (you’ll need the correct change) and run regularly around the city centre. A Tourist Card (for 24, 48 or 76 hours, from ISK1,700, available at the tourist information centre, some hotels and other selected outlets) will give you the freedom to jump on and off as you like.

Disability Access

This varies between venues: you're well catered for at the bigger places, but the smaller ones don't have custom-designed access.

Food & Drink

Tucking into a late-night hotdog from the legendary red kiosk at the harbour is a must-do. You’ll be joined by plenty of other hungry hipsters, particularly between 02h and 05h. For a more stylish option, try b5 on Bankastræti (+354 552 9600), which serves the best mojitos in town, and Siggi Hall on Thorsgata (+354 511 6677), the highly-acclaimed eponymous restaurant of Iceland’s finest chef. As a general rule, you don’t need to tip – prices are high anyway, and service is already included. See more bars and restaurants at www.mrandmrssmith.com.

Sleep

The elegant and modern Hotel 101 is close enough to the action to allow you to stumble home afterwards. Get the lowdown and book online at www.mrandmrssmith.com, or ring 0845 034 0701.

VIP

This is not a corporate-hospitality kind of place: there are no official VIP areas and everyone parties together.