The New Year's fireworks are one of those peculiar Icelandic Holiday traditions which draw thousands of foreign travellers to this country every year. While the New Year Eve traditions around the world include fireworks, few if any countries go to the same extreme as Iceland.
Some of the crazy atmosphere of the festivities were captured on camera by local photographer, Einar Páll Svavarsson, who submitted the above photograph to the Your Shot storytelling community of The National Geographic, which picked it as its Photo of the Day.
Even by the lavish standards set by New Year’s celebrations, Iceland is “a bit crazy,” says Your Shot photographer Einar Pall Svavarsson, himself an Icelander. When midnight strikes and the calendar flips in Reykjavík, the night sky turns to day for 20 to 30 minutes as the entire city sets off fireworks, a decades-old tradition.
The New Year's fireworks are one of those peculiar Icelandic Holiday traditions which draw thousands of foreign travellers to this country every year. While the New Year Eve traditions around the world include fireworks, few if any countries go to the same extreme as Iceland.
Some of the crazy atmosphere of the festivities were captured on camera by local photographer, Einar Páll Svavarsson, who submitted the above photograph to the Your Shot storytelling community of The National Geographic, which picked it as its Photo of the Day.
Even by the lavish standards set by New Year’s celebrations, Iceland is “a bit crazy,” says Your Shot photographer Einar Pall Svavarsson, himself an Icelander. When midnight strikes and the calendar flips in Reykjavík, the night sky turns to day for 20 to 30 minutes as the entire city sets off fireworks, a decades-old tradition.
