New Issue Out!

Issue no 5 of ReykjavikMag is fresh from print, just in time for the biggest weekend of the year - Verslunarmannahelgi or the August Bank Holiday. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of those people who have shown such great support to our new publication and for the fantastic reception you readers have given us.

Tomorrow, half of Reykjavik's citizens will leave their urban boundaries to set up camp somwhere in the countryside. I must admit that I'm not a tent person myself. I can't help myself. I liked camping when I was ten years old, but every time I've tried it beyond the age of fifteen, I've either almost caught hypothermia in the middle of the night, found myself in a cloud of flies on waking, or had my tent almost blown away in a gale of 25 metres per second.

Unsurprisingly, I've never experienced a true Icelandic bank holiday weekend, or Verslunarmannahelgi, which involves getting hideously drunk in a tent. Being more of a champagne-and-Manolo girl myself, my idea of a good party instead is the Innipúkinn music festival, which takes place in Reykjavík, no tent allowed. A great chance to put on high heels with your jeans whilst listening to the music that's making our city famous. See our interview with Mammút, rising stars on the Reykjavík music scene on page 18, who play at Innipúkinn on the August 6th. Summer is also a time to hang out by the pool, and nowhere in the world- except perhaps in the Japanese Onsen's - will you find the culture of soaking in hot-spring-fed water as thriving as right here in Iceland.

I'm also happy to invite guest star Edda Pétursdóttir who plunges to the cover of our swimming pool issue. She's now a top New York-based model and has been featured on a gigantic billboard on Times Square. Way to go girl. And for the rest of you, have a fantastic weekend, however you choose to spend it.

Anna Margrét Björnsson