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The Reykjavík Grapevine has been published out of downtown Reykjavík for more than 20 years, with its offices for most of that time next door to the "World Famous Hot Dog Stand." Every day, people drop-in to our office for various reasons. Sometimes we they tell us interesting stuff that we want to share with you, so we interview them, for your pleasure. There is no theme.

Today we are joined by Haukur Mar Helgason, an author, writer, editor etc. to discuss the complex legacy of former Prime Minister of Iceland, David Oddsson, who died on March 1st this year. Haukur's feature on David's legacy can be found in the latest issue of The Reykjavík Grapevine, see here:
https://grapevine.is/mag/2026/03/06/the-last-king-of-iceland-coming-to-terms-with-david-oddssons-legacy/

Hosted by: Jón Trausti Sigurðarson & Bart Cameron

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The Drop In is joined by SIGMAR ÞÓR MATTHÍASSON, current director of the Reykjavík Folk Festival, which runs 19–21 March 2026. The festival is modeled on international tradition, with the joy of playing at its heart and unamplified instruments taking centre stage. The first festival was held with this guiding principle in 2010. The driving force, visionary, chief architect and first executive director of the Reykjavík Folk Festival was Ólafur Þórðarson, a beloved musician and a member of the band Ríó Tríó and several other acts, as well as a staunch supporter of countless musicians.

Sigmar joined us to discuss how this festival is continuing, with musicians handling everything to include lighting, and local Reykjavík brewers Ægir making a custom beer for the event.

Folk music has sometimes been defined as music or musical influences that trace their origins to the ordinary common person — a musical heritage passed down from person to person, generation to generation. More often than not, this can be traced back to friends or family coming together to sing and play freely and spontaneously. It might therefore be more accurate to speak of it as "people's music" (alþýðutónlist).

The main programme of the Reykjavík Folk Festival takes place at Iðnó on Friday 20 March and Saturday 21 March.

Tickets can be found at tix.is

More information at:

facebook.com/reykjavikfolkfestival

instagram.com/reykjavikfolkfestival

PROGRAMME:

Friday 20 March

• Iðnó — free admission 18:00 — MÍT Showcase concert, Ásgeir Helgi & Theodóra
• Iðnó
• 19:00 — Doors open, Ásgeir Ásgeirsson performs on “oud” 20:00 — Svavar Knútur
• 21:00 — Umbra
• 22:00 — Ode to Icelandic Folk Music (artists of the evening joined by Snorri Helgason and Brek)
• Ægir 101
• 23:00 — After-party, bar discounts for ticket holders

Saturday 21 March

• Iðnó — free admission, life and energy in all spaces!
• 13:00 — Danslög Jónasar, introduction and dancing
• 15:00 — Family programme, clapping games with Sigga & Ingibjörg
• Iðnó
• 19:00 — Doors open, Margrét Arnar performs on accordion 20:00 — Soffía Björg & Fríða Dís
• 21:00 — Árstíðir
• 22:00 — Una Torfa
• Ægir 101
• 23:00 — After-party, bar discounts for ticket holders

Send us Fan Mail

The Reykjavík Grapevine has been published out of downtown Reykjavík for more than 20 years, with its offices for most of that time next door to the "World Famous Hot Dog Stand." Every day, people drop-in to our office for various reasons. Sometimes they tell us interesting stuff that we want to share with you, so we interview them, for your pleasure. There is no theme.

Today we are joined by veteran journalist and former Editor-in-Chief at The Reykjavík Grapevine, Valur Grettisson, along with his dog Polly. We discuss Valur’s years at The Grapevine, and his role in getting the publication through COVID by acquiring a following on Youtube, we talk about his 20+ years in journalism, the highs and lows of that experience and the general decline of the Icelandic media business during those two decades, and some of the reasons behind that: First the destruction in Iceland of the subscription based revenue model of media, second the slow drift of advertising revenue from traditional media to “Vampire” social media platforms and how difficult and expensive it can be for small and large media companies, in Iceland, and in the world over, to readjust to a new environment. We also discuss journalism and morality and the importance of journalism in the 21st century, along with the current financial troubles of The Reykjavík Grapevine. +More.

Note: Pollý was moving freely around the studio as we recorded and pumped into the camera stand at one point, leading to Valur being partly off camera for about 5 minutes. We are sure Pollý is sorry for that, but in her defense, she was really bored.

Also, The Reykjavík Grapevine is broke. If you want to support us, go to support.grapevine.is or buy something at our online store: shop.grapevine.is

Hosted by: Jón Trausti Sigurðarson & Bart Cameron