Ebba Katrín: Christmas is best at home in Hafnarfjörður

The town artist in the Christmas town

„We siblings are all pretty much grown up now, with two of us in our forties, but we all want to be nowhere else on Christmas Eve than with Mum and Dad in Lækjarberg,“ says Ebba Katrín Finnsdóttir, the Artist in Residence for the City of Hafnarfjörður.

The actress Ebba Katrín has attracted well-deserved attention in recent months on stage and on television. A busy year lies behind her and there is much to note. In particular, the show Word against word. She grew up in the beautiful fjord.

Uniting in Lækjarberg

„My parents have suggested that we have our own Christmas. That hasn't been on the cards and they've come to terms with Christmas being at their place again,“ says Ebba Katrín, who isn't in a tug-of-war with her fiancé and actor, Odd Júlíusson, over Christmas Eve. They eat separately.

„He comes to us in Lækjarberg then, and we meet his parents on Christmas Day,“ she says as she strolls to work at the National Theatre early in the morning with Odd by her side. „He's a die-hard West Ender,“ she says, laughing. „Grew up in 107. His parents still live there. They're solid. I'm going to drive my future child to Hafnarfjörður, straight to FH. No chance of them going to KR,“ she says, laughing.

Meet the extended family on Christmas Eve

Always the same food, always the same at Lækjarberg? „Similar, similar food, but the key is being all together,“ she says, sharing a heartwarming family tradition with us.

„The extended family on my father's side meets up in the churchyard at about four o'clock. There we splash a little rum on Granny Sigga's grave, put a cigar on Grandad Árni's grave and drink hot chocolate while the turkey or gammon joint roasts in the oven. Everyone with the children. It's a lovely tradition,“ she says.

Ebba Katrín says that Hafnarfjörður is indispensable in the run-up to Christmas. „The town is so beautifully decorated with Christmas lights. I pop in once or twice a week. For a cuppa at my mum and dad's. Then I visit the Christmas Village.“ There will be less stress this Christmas than most, because she is no longer performing on the day of the premiere, which is on Boxing Day. However, she experiences Christmas many times before it arrives in the play The Christmas Dinner at the National Theatre. It tells the eventful Christmas story of an Icelandic family over 100 years. „Yes, it's going to be a lovely Christmas,“ says Ebba Katrín.

Hafnarfjörður Christmas Magazine 2024 – online edition: