Christmas concerts now outnumber what the population can attend – organisers appeal to tourists

According to new figures from the Association of Christmas Concert Organisers, 4,312 Christmas concerts will be held around the country between mid-November and Þorláksmessa on 23 December, about 108 a day. To fill every hall, each and every Icelander, infants included, would need to attend fourteen concerts.

“It started in December,” says the association's chair. “Then we moved into November. Next year we're aiming for July. We call it Christmas in July, and it's already sold out.”

Ragnheiður and Þórður in Grafarvogur have tickets to eleven concerts this year. “We see the same singer at three concerts in the same week,” says Ragnheiður. “He's started waving to us from the stage. Last week he asked after the kids.”

The band Sleðarnir added its 31st extra concert this week. The band members haven't been home since mid-November and are now spending advent in sleeping bags backstage. The drummer's son reportedly took his first steps between two encores.

The strain on other performers is no less. One tenor sang “O Holy Night” seven times last Saturday at four venues, and by the end of the day was delivering it at a tempo musicologists compare to rap. He was later pulled over by police on Reykjanesbraut, in white tie, on his way to an extra concert.

Ticket prices are up 18 percent year on year, which organisers attribute to inflation. The Central Bank declined to comment on whether Christmas concerts will be factored into its next rate decision.

The market is now looking for new formats. This year will see the first Christmas concerts for dogs, Christmas concerts for remote workers, streamed live into Teams meetings, and Christmas concerts for people who have had enough of Christmas concerts. At the last of these, nobody sings. They sold out in four minutes.

Concertgoers are, however, warned about concerts advertised as “modest” or “understated”. At those, there are only 23 guest singers.