Iceland is guest country at the cod festival in Ilhavo 17-21 August

9 August 2016

An event that brings together more than 200 000 people

Iceland is proud to be invited to be a guest country at the festival along with the town of Grindavik, a twin town of Ilhavo. People visiting the festival can experience Iceland and learn about the country, as a source of quality bacalhau, a place to visit, its food culture, and its music. The Minister of Industry and innovation, Mrs. Ragnheidur Elin Arnadottir will visit the festival, as well as Ambassador Thordur Aegir Oskarsson, and the Mayor of Grindavik, Robert Ragnarsson.

During the whole festival, the little red ELDHÚS (Eng. kitchen) house, will be the centre of the activities. There we will stage a sweepstake with many good prizes, the main being a trip to Iceland and visit to Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon, an exhibition of photographs from Iceland taken by Pepe Brix, among other things.

The Icelandic Day 19 August

The highlight for Iceland will be the Day of Iceland, Friday the 19. Throughout the day there will be various activities. At 14.30 there will be a flag-raising by the ELDHÚS in the presence of the Icelandic Minister of Industry and Commerce, The Ambassador of Iceland, and the Mayor of Grindavik, as well as officials from Ilhavo. The band Ylja from Iceland will play some music on this occasion. The delegation will then talk walk around the festival zone.

Representatives from Iceland and the City of Ilhavo will have a working meeting discussing tourism, fisheries, and innovation. The delegation from Iceland will also visit the University of Aveiro that is renown for research and teaching innovation and tourism.

Icelandic band Ylja will perform at 20.00 at the Ria Stage. At 21.00 there will be show-cooking and taste event. Chef Viktor Orn Andresson, will prepare a fish dish and a desert including the famous SKYR dairy product of Iceland. Guests (we expect between 100-150 people) can have a taste of the dishes and some Icelandic Viking beer.

Chef Viktor Örn Andrésson is one of Iceland’s most prestigious culinary expert. He has received many awards, including winner of the Iceland Chef of the year in 2013, and the best Nordic Chef in 2014. Furthermore, Chef Viktor has also distinguished himself in the 2016 Bocuse d’Or Europe finishing in 5^th place and winning a special recognition for preparing the best fish of the competition. He will be Iceland’s representative at the 2017 Bocuse d’Or wold-wide competition in Lyon.

From Thursday to Saturday, the smaller prizes in the sweepstake will be given out dayly, but the winner of the biggest prize, a trip to Iceland, will be announced Saturday evening. The smaller prizes include cod from Iceland, aprons, and products from the Blue lagoon. To participate, people will be asked to answer some questions about Iceland, and like our Facebook site. We announce all the winners on Facebook.

Click here to download the festival's brochure.

For more information, please contact Bjorgvin Thor Bjorgvinsson, bjorgvin@islandsstofa.is or Gudny Karadottir, gudny@islandsstofa.is, tel. +354 511 4000, or click on the following links: