Our swimming pool culture is on the UNESCO list.
Iceland's swimming pool culture has been formally registered as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO.
Unique worldwide
Iceland's swimming pool culture has been recognised as a living tradition and has been inscribed on UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is, as Logi Einarsson, the Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, said earlier today, in the same league as the French baguette and the Finnish sauna tradition.
These momentous news was celebrated in grand style at the Vesturbæjarlaug today. There, the mayor and town councillors met with the minister, Grýla and one of her thirteen sons. Joy reigned supreme. The mayor of Seltjarnarnes showed a photograph of a swan that had taken a dip in the Seltjarnarnes swimming pool this morning. The swan made the news in various media outlets.
Swimming pool culture in Iceland was nominated for UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in March 2024. An 18-month evaluation process within UNESCO followed, which formally concluded with a meeting of the intergovernmental committee of the convention held in New Delhi, India. There, the committee confirmed that Iceland's swimming pool culture received this highest recognition in the field of living traditions.
The UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage has been described as the 'little sister' of the well-known World Heritage List. The list contains a highly diverse selection of humanity's cultural heritage. It features over 800 entries from more than 150 countries. Examples of entries on the list include Chinese shadow puppetry, Belgian beer culture and the Mediterranean diet.
We in Hafnarfjörður have three public swimming pools. They are always lively and full of fun, and yes, it will now be even more enjoyable to take part in the swimming culture of Hafnarfjörður.