June 17th is Independence Day

Hitt Húsið, youth cultural center, will organize the Icelandic Independence Day celebtrations in Reykjavík this year. As usual, the celebrations will take place in the city centre from morning until night. The celebration begins at 9:55 when all church bells in Reykjavík chime simultaniously. According to tradition the opening ceremony takes place at Austurvöllur and begins at 10:40. President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson lays a wreath of flowers at the Jón Sigurðsson monument in Austurvöllur. Fjallkonan (the Woman of the Mountains) speaks and Fóstbræður Male Choir sings the National Anthem. During the day a variety of family oriented entertainment, concerts, outdoor play sets and street happenings will take place. The celebration area is Kvosin, including Austurvöllur, Kirkjustræti, Templarasund, Ingólfstorg, Arnarhóll, Tjarnargarður and Reykjavik harbour. In the evening a number of Icelandic pop bands will perform at an outdoor concert on Arnarhóll, including Ampop, Baggalútur, Foreign Monkeys and Dr. Spock. At Ingólfstorg, Rúnar Júlíusson, the grandfather of rock n' roll will play with his rockband and the Millionaires with Bogomil Font and Ragnar Bjarnason. The entire schedule for celebrations can be found on the Hitt húsið website: www.hitthusid.is/category.aspx?catID=2109