17th June in the centre of Hafnarfjörður

Happy National Day in Hafnarfjörður – National Day

Programme on National Day

• 8:00 a.m. Flags lowered to half-mast and flag salute. The Hraunbúar Scout Group is flying flags all over town.
• 11:00 National costume gathering in Flensburg. Annríki – National Costumes and Jewellery provides assistance with wearing national costumes and encourages the people of Hafnarfjörður to wear national costumes from all countries.
• 1:00 p.m. Parade from Hamrin to Thor's Square. Walk down Ring Road towards Lækjargata, turn onto Lækjargata and Strandgata towards Thorsplani. The Hafnarfjörður Brass Band and the Hraunbúar Scout Group lead the parade.
• 13:30 – 16:30 Celebrations on Thorsplan
• 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Entertainment at Hafnarborg
• 14:00 – 16:00 Entertainment Programme at the Hafnarfjörður Museum of Local History

Celebrations on Thorsplan

• 13:30  The Threasts Male Choir, onaddress by Elín Fanney Ólafsdóttir, address by the mayor, Guðlaug Kristjánsdóttir, address by the newly-graduated student, Benedikt Arnar Þorvaldsson
• 2:00 p.m. Line of long socks
• 14:30 Sylvía Erla Melsted with dancers
• 14:45 Rimmugýgur 
• 3:00 p.m.  A dance performance from the Arabesque dance school   

   

• 15:10 Arni Svavar and the band 

   

• 15:30 Brynjar Dagur (Iceland Got Talent)
• At 15:45, Ragnar Bjarnason and Eyþór Ingi will perform a song together.
• 15:50 Eyþór Ingi and his band

The presenters are Ísgerður Elfa Gunnarsdóttir and Sigyn Blöndal from Krakkafréttir.

Programme on Strandgata, streets and squares

• Stalls, rides, shooting ranges, an obstacle course, face painting and balloons
• Margrét and Birkir Blær – Accordion and Saxophone Duet
• Scout coffee shop in and around the Red Cross premises at Thorsplan
• Creative summer jobs will be on offer

Programme on and around Ráðhústorg

• Toys
• BH Table Tennis Section
• The bookmobile
• Pigeon show
• The Bæjarbandið Band Competition at the Bæjarbíó

East Street Festival

• The residents of Austurgata welcome residents of Hafnarfjörður and the surrounding areas to Austurgata.
• The sailing club Þytur will have boats and kayaks at Læknar.
• Children being led on horseback by the Sörli Riding Club from the old Lækjarskóli school.

Ásvellir and Vallahverfi

• 10:00 – 18:00 Fun and encouragement at the finish line of the WOW Cyclothon in the area opposite Steinhella on Völlunum
• 5:00 p.m.  FH – Haukar. There will be competition in the men's and women's senior handball. The referees will be Bjarni Viggósson and Sigurður Hjartarson. The Dance Sports Club of Hafnarfjörður will perform a show during the interval. The compère is Helgi Ásgeir Harðarson.

Entertainment at Hafnarborg

• 2:00 p.m. The Marinarás Orchestra
• 2:00 p.m. Art workshop at Hafnarborg. SA centre for both young and old, based on the Hafnarborg summer exhibition: Traces of Water. To be held outdoors, weather permitting.
• At 2:20 p.m. Senior citizens' line dancing
• At 14:35 Margrét and Birkir Blær – Accordion and Saxophone Duet
• 3:00 p.m. FH's fencing department
• 3:30 p.m. Senior citizens' line dancing

The Quarter Mile Club is showing cars and the Gaflarar Motorcycle Club is showing motorbikes in front of Hafnarborg. Open at Hafnarborg from 12-17 (free admission). Hafnarborg's summer exhibition this time is a group show by six artists who share a common theme of referencing water in their work – the exhibition 'Traces of Water'. Colour, water and its evaporation are at the heart of the concept – what are the traces left after the transformation? The artists exhibiting are Anna Rún Tryggvadóttir, Florence Lam, Harpa Árnadóttir, Hulda Stefánsdóttir, John Zurier and Margrét H. Blöndal. The curators are Ágústa Kristófersdóttir and Birgir Snæbjörn Birgisson.

Entertainment Programme at the Hafnarfjörður Museum of Local History

• 2:00 p.m. School of ballet
• 2:30 p.m. Arabesque dancers from SH
• 3:00 p.m. The Marinarás Orchestra

A horse-drawn carriage takes children around the area. The Hafnarfjörður Folk Museum is a lively and informative museum for the whole family, open from 11:00 to 17:00 in six houses, as well as a photography exhibition on Strandstígur. Admission is free.

1. The Warehouse, 8 West Street. The main exhibition building of the Folk Museum hosts three exhibitions: a themed exhibition about the film town of Hafnarfjörður, 'This is How It Was… The History of Hafnarfjörður from Settlement to the Present Day', and on the top floor of the building, a colourful toy exhibition for children and adults.
2. Sívertsens' House, 6 Vesturgata. The house is the oldest in the town, built between 1803 and 1805 by Bjarni Sívertsen, who was at the time the most prominent businessman in Hafnarfjörður, running a fishing business, a shop and a shipyard in the town. The house contains a wealth of information about Bjarni and his family.
3. Beggubúð, 3b Kirkjuvegur. The building houses the Folk Museum's shop museum. It was built in 1906 as a shop for Egil Jacobsen's business. It was previously located on Strandgata but was moved to the museum's grounds, restored, and opened as an exhibition house in 2008.
4. Siglufjörður, Church Road 10. Stepping inside this little house is a truly unique experience. Siggubær was built in 1902 and is preserved as an example of a working-class or fisherman's home in Hafnarfjörður from the first half of the 20th century. In addition, the „Elves and Belief in Elves“ exhibition is open at Siggubær.
5. Bookless Bungalow, 32 Vesturgata. The bungalow was built as a residence for the Scottish brothers Harry and Douglas Bookless in 1918, who ran an extensive fishing business from Hafnarfjörður in the first half of the 20th century. The house tells the story of the foreign fishing industry in Hafnarfjörður during the first half of the 20th century, but the building itself is also a unique museum piece.
6. Gúttó, 7 South Street. At the Good Templar Hall, the Hafnarfjörður Folk Museum has set up the exhibition „Guttó – House of the Templars, cradle of social and cultural life for 130 years“, which sheds light on the history of the Order of the Good Templars in Hafnarfjörður and the extensive social and cultural work that has taken place in the building over the years.
7. The coastal path.  On the promenade along the harbour in Hafnarfjörður, the Hafnarfjörður Folk Museum has an exhibition space for its photography collection. There, a new photography exhibition can be seen, featuring photographs by the amateur photographer Ásgeir Kr. Sörensen of the daily life of the people of Hafnarfjörður in the mid-20th century. The exhibition features 60 photographs and covers the area from the Fjörukrá to Herjólfsgata.

Something else going on

• 12:00-18:00 Open house at the Skatepark on Flatahraun with the Skateboard Club – free entry
• Ragnar Bjarnason visits hospitals with an accompanist and holds concerts.
• The Viking Summer Solstice Festival will be held at the Fjord Wharf.
• The Free Church will be holding an open house.

Transport and road closures

The town centre will be closed to car traffic during the celebrations:

• Strandgata and Austurgata: at Lækjargata
• Linnet Path: at Fjardar Street and 23 Hverfisgata
• Mjósund: at East Street
• Disabled parking at 1 Linnet Path

Residents are encouraged to park legally near the town centre and walk or take the bus to event venues. We point to the numerous car parks at Lækjarskóli, Iðnskólinn, Flensborg, the Strandgata Sports Hall and Víðistaðaskóli. As a reminder, dogs are better off at home than in crowds and large gatherings. PLEASE NOTE... Dogs are NOT PERMITTED at event venues.

Let's celebrate the day together... in the centre of Hafnarfjörður! 🙂