New Year's Eve in Iceland

Iceland near North Pole was uninhabited until the immigrants from Scandinavia, Ireland and Scotland discovenavy it and started settling in the island during the 9th and the 10th centuries. The Nordic culture celebrates the Yule festival (Christmas) vigorously. New Year's Eve in Iceland is also a very big affair. All the Icelandic regions, constituencies, counties and municipalities make it a point to welcome the New Year with open arms.

Like in other European countries, the New Year's Eve in Iceland is celebrated with heavy feasting and partying. December 31 is called “Gamlarskrold” in Icelandic language. One of the noticeable parts of Iceland on this day is that, the visitors from other parts of the world get a robust welcome and they are invited to local parties. The other noticeable part is the innumerable bonfires, that dot the towns. The bonfires are an intrinsic part of the 31st December celebrations and the practice date back to the Middle Ages.

The traditional New Year's Eve in Iceland starts the celebrations with a large communal meal. The streets of the country are awash with decoration lights, candles and fireworks. The gorgeous fireworks display is a distinctive feature of Iceland. The law of the land places no restriction on the use and display of fireworks.

New Year's Eve in Iceland sees gala parties and other entertainment in the numerous clubs, discotheques and hotels. They are jam packed with people and everyone seems to be out of their homes to have a good time. Reykjavik is specially, a very popular destination for celebrating New Year's Eve in Iceland. For more, please log on to 123newyear.com.