ICELAND AIRWAVES 10! It's On!
The annual Iceland Airwaves music festival begins in central Reykjavík tonight and will last until Sunday. Around 4,500 people are expected to attend the festival this year, 1,800 of whom are foreign visitors.
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Today is the Icelandic National Day!
Icelandic National Day - June 17, 1944, was chosen as the day that The Republic of Iceland (Lýðveldið Ísland) was formed. Iceland had formerly been under Danish rule. The formation of the republic repealed the 1918 Act of Union.
Due to Denmark being occupied by German forces and Iceland by the British at the time, Denmark did not have as much influence over Iceland and, mainly for simplicity, allowed the country its complete independence, which included the rewriting of the Icelandic constitution and the transformation of Iceland into a republic. The people of Iceland celebrated, and praised Jón Sigurðsson (1811–1879) and Sveinn Björnsson, who became the first president of independent Iceland. More on wikipedia.
Kjartan interviewed in Monitor.
