The Iceland Airwaves festival is known for its intimacy and party spirit. The 13th annual Iceland Airwaves festival will take place in various venues all over downtown Reykjavik from October 12-16, 2011. Approximately 200 bands will perform in front of approximately 10,000 people.
Check out our interview with the Iceland Airwaves' Egill Tómasson (in charge of Iceland Airwaves’ Production/Booking) to get the inside scoop on what it takes to be one of the festival's performin>>...
The Iceland Airwaves festival is known for its intimacy and party spirit. The 13th annual Iceland Airwaves festival will take place in various venues all over downtown Reykjavik from October 12-16, 2011. Approximately 200 bands will perform in front of approximately 10,000 people.
Check out our interview with the Iceland Airwaves' Egill Tómasson (in charge of Iceland Airwaves’ Production/Booking) to get the inside scoop on what it takes to be one of the festival's performing bands here. While you're in our blogs, check out an interview with one of last year's Sonicbids performers here.
Iceland Airwaves is looking for artists from all over the world to play at this year's festival. Iceland Airwaves is reserving a minimum of 5 slots for 5 Sonicbids artists to perform:
- 3 bands from Europe
- 2 band from North America
Selected bands will also be provided with local airport transfers, local transfers (pick-up for sound check & pick-up after show), catering the day of the show, festival passes for the band & TM, crew and basic festival backline.
Artists from other continents are also encouraged to submit. Iceland Airwaves has selected more than 25 Sonicbids artists in the last 3 years (18 last year alone), including artists from Africa and Asia.
5,000 festival passes are sold each year with an additional 2,000 - 3,000 people purchasing day passes. That means that 7,000 - 8,000 people attend the festival per day. Also, since Iceland Airwaves is a showcase festival, it attracts hundreds of journalists and music industry professionals from around the world, especially from the US, UK, Scandinavia, Germany and France.
Iceland Airwaves 2011 will take place at 8 main concert venues in the center of Reykjavik - all in walking distance from another - with capacities ranging from 200 to 1,000. Then there is the 'off-venue program', taking place during the whole festival, from afternoon into the night, in selected record shops, bars, galleries and even a church.
Renowned for featuring only quality, up and coming and cutting-edge acts from around the globe, the Iceland Airwaves festival has featured performances by some of the best and brightest artists of today.
All types of music are booked, especially Alternative, Pop, Dance/Techno, Hip-Hop, etc. Typically, about 50 artists out of 170 are booked from outside of Iceland and Europe. Now popular New York bands Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Bravery and The Rapture all played their FIRST international shows at Iceland Airwaves and there are many other success stories just like those.
Previous performers include Vampire Weekend, CSS, Crystal Castles, Simian Mobile Disco, Handsome Furs, Singapore Sling, Final Fantasy, White Lies, Bloodgroup, GusGus and Junior Boys. Other previous performers include Bloc Party, !!!, Sigur Rós, TV on the Radio, Hot Chip, Ratatat, Architecture in Helsinki, Kalxons, Deerhoof, of Montreal and Chromeo. Now in its 13th year, Iceland Airwaves 2011 bill looks even more promising.
Since the first show held in 1999, which was planned to be a one-off event in an airplane hanger, Iceland Airwaves has become one of the premier showcases for new music - Icelandic and otherwise - in the world.