Iceland Airwaves 2023
On November 2-4, 2023, Iceland Airwaves is back to rock Reykjavík!
Join us for the hottest bands from around the world in the coolest setting on Earth.
Our favorite music festival
November is one of our favorite times of the year: Airwaves time! We invite all music lovers to come join us.
Iceland Airwaves is a long-running music festival held across venues in Reykjavík. Over the years it's showcased hundreds of acts, ranging from established international talent to Iceland's rich melting pot of domestic rising stars.
As founding sponsors of the Iceland Airwaves music festival over 20 years ago, we we're proud to be involved in the amazing events that are a trademark of Airwaves. Don't just take our word for it: NME and The Independent gave 2022's festival 5 stars, and Rolling Stone magazine described it as 'An essential trip for music lovers across the continent. When paired with the natural beauty and magic of Reykjavik, it becomes near unmissable.'
Come and experience the magic they're talking about.
Icelandair packages
Every year we put together packages to fly music fans from around the world to Reykjavík to join the Iceland Airwaves party.
We offer packages from our gateways in North America and Europe that include 3-day festival pass and round-trip flights, with hotel-inclusive packages available.
Iceland Airwaves 2023 packages from the USA.
Iceland Airwaves 2023 packages from Canada.
Block out your calendar for early November. See you in Reykjavík!
The 2023 lineup
Over 3 days and nights, downtown Reykjavík will come alive, filled non-stop with music, with performances hosted everywhere from tiny record stores and art museums, to cool bars and stately churches, to nightclubs and large-scale venues. The venues are all within walking distance of each other.
Over the past few weeks, our friends at Iceland Airwaves have been busy announcing fresh lineup additions – with more to come. So far they've got Balming Tiger, Blondshell, Cassia, Clubdub, Daniil, FETISH, Fran Vasilic, Gallus, Kneecap, Kristin Sesselja, Lime Garden, Lón, Love’n’joy, Myrkvi, Nanna, Neonme, Squid, The Goa Express, The Haunted Youth, Trentemøller, Whispering Sons, and Yard Act.
You can investigate all the artists at the official Iceland Airwaves website, and dig deeper thanks to Airwaves' official Spotify playlists.
How does Iceland sound?
Does Iceland sound like falling rain? Like wind in the winter? Like birdsong in the summer? Or just like a dreamy travel destination?
We ask the Icelandic musicians involved in the Live from Reykjavík events of 2021 and 2020, and their answers might surprise you. (Hint: Weather plays a large part.)
When we say we are proud founding sponsors of Iceland Airwaves, this is exactly what we mean: we're proud sponsors of creativity, natural wonder, and the spirit of Iceland.
Boosting the sound of Iceland
Iceland is globally recognised as punching above its weight on the world music stage, and Icelandair is proud of the role it plays in nurturing and showcasing local talent. Icelandair founded the Iceland Airwaves music festival in 1999, and today sponsors a number of music, design, and arts events.
We are the founding sponsor of Iceland Airwaves, and we support The Icelandic Music Experiments, a 'battle of the bands' type event for young musicians. We also make a point of playing only Icelandic music on board our aircraft.
Iceland Airwaves was first held in an airplane hangar in 1999, with the goal of emphasizing grassroots acts, up-and-coming artists from around the world, and a few established headliners. Originally, the philosophy behind the festival was to showcase Icelandic music to the worldwide press, but also to increase tourists to Iceland outside the traditional peak season of summer. So, a winter festival was no coincidence.
Iceland Airwaves has since grown to a permanent and sought-after fixture on the Icelandic cultural calendar and draws thousands to Reykjavík every year.
