Reykjavík’s queer calendar is giving us plenty of reasons not to hibernate just yet.
October in Iceland is when the daylight really starts losing the argument, the wind begins taking things personally and leaving the house increasingly feels like something that should require a written justification. Fortunately, Reykjavík’s queer calendar is giving us plenty of reasons not to hibernate just yet.
The month starts with the final days of RIFF, including a particularly queer meeting of Reykjavík’s own choir and Lisbon duo Fado Bicha, while Sex Ed brings bodies, puppets and some very adult education to Borgarleikhúsið. There’s also drag, queer cinema, art, opera, vampires, corsets and enough Halloween energy to make dressing strangely seem seasonally appropriate.
So find something warm for the journey and something considerably less sensible for once you get there. Here’s what’s happening in LGBTQIA+ Iceland this October.
Happenings at Samtökin ’78
When: Throughout October
Time: Various times
Where: Samtökin ’78, Suðurgata 3, Reykjavík, and other locations
Cost: Mostly free
Iceland’s national queer organisation Samtökin ’78 runs a busy calendar of community events, support groups and social gatherings throughout the year. These range from groups for different parts of the trans community to activities for queer young people and other opportunities to meet, talk and find community. Rather than list every meeting separately, the best place to see what’s coming up is Samtökin ’78’s regularly updated events calendar.
See the Samtökin ’78 events calendar
Karaoke with Paula Lovely Gorgeous
When: Tuesdays (October 6, 13, 20 & 27)
Time: 21:00
Where: Bar 22, Laugavegur 22 101, 101 Reykjavík (downstairs from Kiki)
Cost: Free
Come down to Bar 22 to share and appreciate the joys of vocal talent. The karaoke typically kicks off around 9pm and goes till late so do your warm ups and make your song selections.
Queer AA Meeting
When: Thursdays (October 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29)
Time: 17:30
Where: Gula húsið, Room B Tjarnargata 20, 101 RVK
Cost: Free
This is a special Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that is dedicated to members of the queer community. The meeting is in Icelandic.
Kikioke with Paula Lovely Gorgeous
When: Thursdays (October 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29)
Time: 21:30
Where: Kiki Queer Bar, Laugavegur 22 101, 101 Reykjavík (upstairs from Bar 22)
Cost: Free
Come upstairs to Kiki to share and appreciate the joys of vocal talent. The karaoke typically kicks off around 9:30pm and goes till late so do your warm ups and make your song selections.
Faye Knús Friday Drag Show at Kiki
When: Fridays (October 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30)
Time: Doors open 20:00, show starts 21:30
Where: Kiki Queer Bar, Laugavegur 22, 101 RVK
Cost: 1,500 ISK (tickets on the door only), entry is free for VIQ-Card holders.
Kiki’s resident drag queen AKA “the hardest working woman in show business,” Faye Knús (body of a dancer, voice of your father) hosts an evening of drag, comedy, mid-life crisis and acts that cannot be unseen. It’s the perfect way to start your evening and the rest of your life.
Queer Stories at RIFF
When: Through October 4
Time: Various screening times
Where: Háskólabíó, Reykjavík
Cost: Varies by screening
If you didn’t manage to get your fill of queer cinema in September, there are still a few days left of Reykjavík International Film Festival. RIFF’s queer selection highlights films exploring LGBTQIA+ lives and identities as well as work by queer filmmakers, with this year’s programme including Club Kid, The Ornithologist, Will-o’-the-Wisp, Two Times João Liberada, As Fado Bicha, The Dashed Lines and HEX. Consider this your final warning before the credits roll.
No Rest for the Wicked
When: Thursday, October 1
Time: 21:00
Where: Bíó Paradís, Hverfisgata 54, 101 Reykjavík
Cost: 2,190 ISK
One final chance to catch this supernatural Faroese queer romance before it disappears from Reykjavík screens. Set in 1862, No Rest for the Wicked follows young fisherman Baldur as he falls for rugged Danish whaler Helge, only for death to prove considerably less final than expected. Think forbidden gay longing, isolated islands, suspicious villagers and enough supernatural misery to make dating apps look positively appealing. Faroese with English subtitles. 16+.
Film and screening information
Music and Magic: Reykjavík Queer Choir and Fado Bicha
When: Thursday, October 1
Time: 20:30–22:00
Where: Háskólabíó, Reykjavík
Cost: See RIFF for ticket information
Reykjavík Queer Choir joins forces with Lisbon duo Fado Bicha for a special RIFF concert celebrating queer voices through music. Singer Lila Fadista and guitarist João Caçador have made a name for themselves by queering Portugal’s traditional fado, using the famously melancholic genre to explore identity, gender and social change. Add Reykjavík’s own queer choir to the mix and you have a rather fabulous way to send RIFF into its final weekend.
Sex Ed
When: October 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 & 9
Time: 20:00
Where: Litla svið, Borgarleikhúsið, Listabraut 3, 103 Reykjavík
Cost: 8,200 ISK
Forget awkward diagrams and bananas in classrooms. Sex Ed is an adults-only circus and sex-education carnival where Icelandic cabaret meets New York’s wonderfully unhinged Visceral Abstractions. Puppetry, bodies, aerial acrobatics, comedy and surreal performance are deployed in the name of examining desire, relationships and the general strangeness of having a human body. Developed through performances in New York, it now gets an Icelandic body, voice and context under the direction of Margrét Erla Maack, with Juanita Cardenas as assistant director and Sigurður “Gógó” Starr as dramaturg. Definitely not one for the children.
Heart Attack: House of Heart’s 4th Birthday
When: Saturday, October 3
Time: Doors open 20:30, show starts 21:00
Where: Kiki Queer Bar, Laugavegur 22, 101 Reykjavík
Cost: 2,900 ISK at the door
House of Heart is celebrating four years of drag, chaos and very good reasons to stay out late. Their monthly Heart Attack show returns to Kiki for a birthday edition featuring House of Heart members Lola von Heart and Chardonnay Bublée, joined by Turner Strait, Faye Knús and a special appearance from Joy Kumral. Expect music, dancing, comedy, confetti and the sort of birthday party where turning up overdressed is probably the safest option.
Book Launch and Conversation: Body, Gender and Identity
When: Wednesday, October 7
Time: 19:30
Where: Mengi, Óðinsgata 2, Reykjavík
Cost: Free
Ós Pressan, ALO Iceland and Reykjavík UNESCO City of Literature invite you to a book launch, reading and conversation with Lithuanian interdisciplinary artist, poet and playwright Gabrielė Labanauskaitė for her poetry book Lūpų tapetai. She will also read from the English-language zine Lip Print.
The event is queer-friendly, with the conversation exploring themes of the body, gender and identity. Gabrielė will read in Lithuanian and English, while the conversation, moderated by Giedrė Gudaitė, a Lithuanian poet and editor based in Iceland, will be in English. There will also be an opportunity for questions and reflections from the audience.
Free entry and all are welcome!
James Merry: Metamorphlings
When: Until October 18
Time: Daily, 10:00–17:00
Where: National Gallery of Iceland, Fríkirkjuvegur 7, 101 Reykjavík
Cost: 2,500 ISK general admission
If you’ve ever wondered who is responsible for many of the extraordinary masks attached to Björk’s face over the last decade, this is your chance to meet the creatures themselves. Metamorphlings is the first museum retrospective of Reykjavík-based British artist James Merry, bringing together more than 80 works spanning embroidery, metalwork, jewellery, 3D printing and digital art. Merry, a gay artist whose work plays constantly with transformation and mutable identity, places the mask at the centre of an exhibition where form and the self are allowed to shift, mutate and become something else entirely. Many of the pieces were created for Björk, alongside work for collaborators including Tilda Swinton and Iris van Herpen.
Metamorphlings at the National Gallery
Fatherland
When: From Thursday, October 15
Time: Check individual cinema listings
Where: Icelandic cinemas
Cost: Varies by cinema
Paweł Pawlikowski, director of Ida and Cold War, turns his attention to one of Europe’s most complicated literary families in Fatherland. In 1949, writer Thomas Mann returns to a divided Germany after 16 years in exile, accompanied by his daughter Erika, played by Sandra Hüller. Queerness sits quietly but unmistakably inside the story: Erika’s bisexuality is hinted at, while her openly gay brother Klaus and the isolation and homophobia surrounding him form an important part of the family’s tragedy. Shot in Pawlikowski’s trademark black and white, the film arrives in Icelandic cinemas on October 15.
Interview with the Vampire – Party Screening
When: Friday, October 23
Time: 21:00
Where: Bíó Paradís, Hverfisgata 54, 101 Reykjavík
Cost: 2,190 ISK
Before vampires became sparkly teenagers, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise were already demonstrating that there is nothing particularly heterosexual about spending eternity together in elaborate period clothing. Bíó Paradís brings Anne Rice’s gloriously gothic Interview with the Vampire back to the big screen as part of its party-screening series. It screens in English without subtitles, leaving you free to concentrate on the blood, velvet and almost aggressively homoerotic atmosphere.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Party Screening
When: Saturday, October 24
Time: 21:00
Where: Bíó Paradís, Hverfisgata 54, 101 Reykjavík
Cost: 2,190 ISK
It wouldn’t be October without fishnets, questionable scientific ethics and Tim Curry doing more for sexual liberation in two hours than most governments manage in a lifetime. Bíó Paradís is bringing The Rocky Horror Picture Show back for a special party screening, with costumes, singing, dancing and general audience participation actively encouraged. The film is in English with Icelandic subtitles, although the songs are left unsubtitled so there’s really no excuse for not knowing the words. 12+.
The Craft – Halloween Party Screening
When: Saturday, October 31
Time: 19:00
Where: Bíó Paradís, Hverfisgata 54, 101 Reykjavík
Cost: 2,190 ISK
Halloween, three teenage witches and Fairuza Balk operating at a level of intensity usually reserved for Icelandic weather warnings. Bíó Paradís screens cult ’90s favourite The Craft on Halloween night as a special party screening. It may not technically be a queer film, but thirty years of queer audiences adopting goth girls with supernatural powers means we’re allowing it. The film screens in English without subtitles. 12+.