Dark Music Days 2025: A Bold Celebration of Contemporary Music in Reykjavik

The 44th edition of Dark Music Days, Iceland’s premier contemporary music festival, takes place this weekend, 24 - 26 January, in Reykjavik.
Dark Music Days bring much needed light to the darkest months in the world’s northernmost capital by offering world-class programmes performed by both Icelandic and international artists. This year’s programme is uniquely diverse, including everything from lauded composers and symphonic sounds to installations and experimental works by artists.
With over 20 events on its 2025 programme, Dark Music Days is proud to present this ambitious and bold program which celebrates the best in contemporary music today, with esteemed international guests who will both perform and experience world-class performances.

Highlights include VENTUS, a captivating performance by Viibra and Eyjólfur Eyjólfsson. Viibra are best known for their dynamic role in Björk's highly praised theatrical concert Cornucopia, which viibra performed in from 2018 to 2023. The individual members of viibra are all esteemed performers, composers, and educators working with improvisation and diverse approaches to music making.
The Iceland Symphony Orchestra’s performance is also a must-see. As the opening event of this year's festival, this concert features recent and notable works from Iceland and Brazil. The opening piece is Balaena by Ingibjörg Ýr Skarphéðinsdóttir, who has in recent years established herself as one of the most interesting Icelandic composers of her generation.
The full programme has been announced and is available on their website>>
Additionally Dark Music Days in collaboration with Iceland Music and Business Iceland offer PODIUM, a platform for select projects to present to esteemed delegates. This year's delegates include representatives from the festivals Klang, Ultima, November Music and Estonian Music Days and the media Seismograf, Brooklyn Rail and Wallpaper. Read more about Podium here >>
Festival passes are available now, and are valid for all programmed events.
Get festival passes here>>
We asked composers Þórður Hallgrímsson and Iðunn Einars to curate a special playlist for the festival.
The playlist, which features their favourites from the world of Icelandic contemporary music, perfectly captures the spirit of Dark Music Days—Iceland's premier and longest-standing contemporary music festival.
Dark Music Days is supported by City of Reykjavik, Reykjavik Music City and The Music Fund