It’s Sailors’ Day this weekend - check it out!
This Sunday is Sjómannadagurinn , meaning ‘sailors’ day’ or ‘seamen’s day’, in Iceland – and the weekend will be given over to festivities of various kinds throughout the country.
Sjómannadagurinn is a national day to honour especially all those who are involved in the country’s fisheries, particularly those working at sea.
Photo: Iceland Monitor/Golli
The day falls on the first Sunday of June and is celebrated all over the country, with the biggest festivals often held in towns where fisheries are the main source of employment.
Although Sjómannadagurinn is officially on Sunday, many places begin festivities on Saturday – or even earlier.
Photo: Iceland Monitor/Golli
The day was first celebrated in Reykjavik and Ísafjörður (West Fjords) back in 1938, but even before that Icelanders had the tradition of holding special church services for seamen before the fishing vessels departed after the winter break.
The day was made an official feast day in 1987.
You can see a selection of events around Iceland to celebrate Sjómannadagurinn on Iceland Monitor ’s Events page for this weekend, 4-5 June, here .
Photo: Hafþór Hreiðarsson
Photo: Brynjar Gauti
