Reykjavik (Iceland) has a longstanding tradition of lighting huge bonfires all over the city on the last day of the year.
Icelanders start the evening with dinner at home; then, at about 20:30, they meet for local bonfires and celebrate with neighbours.
Like in some places in the Faroe Islands, this is a tradition for symbolically burning away the old year and having a clean slate for the incoming year.
After that, they come back home and watch some traditional TV shows, and as soon as they are finished, it’s time to celebrate with fireworks.
Even though there are no official fireworks events in the city, at 23:30, huge shows of fireworks fired by citizens start in the city. Thousands of people meet at Hallgrímskirkja, the iconic cathedral in the city centre, to celebrate the new year.
Usually, fireworks are illegal in Iceland, but for New Year’s Eve, people can purchase them from ICE-SAR, the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue, a volunteer organization. This is the only time of the year that they can raise funds.
