no restrictions on The fourth rvk fringe

another challenging year

For the second year running, amidst a whole lot of festival cancellations, RVK Fringe was able to take place on its original dates. And this year, there were no restrictions and international performers once again filled the streets.

Local and international acts sold a record number of tickets and festival managers from Bergen Fringe and Gothenburg Fringe came over to help with the organisation.

GALLERY OPENING

The festival kicked off with a gallery opening at Gallerí Fold. As in previous years, several artists showcased their work at this established gallery, with a mixture of paintings, photographs, comics and live installations.

Works presented were Strange Encounters by The Icelandic Comics Society, Poser’s Reflections by Anton Lyngdal and Nathan Favot, We Are All on the Same Bus by Nuno Serrão, INvisible by Bára Halldórsdóttir and Hrafna Jóna Ágústsdóttir / INsight Art and Come, Look at Me by Marianna Solomonidou.

Opening show

Following the gallery opening there was a one-off opening show of Sauðatónar / Sheep Music at the local Árbær Folk Museum. Hafdís Bjarnadóttir and Passepartout Duo set out to play music for the sheep, and people were allowed to attend as well.

The weather couldn’t have been nicer, and the guests of the sold-out show nestled in the grassy fields of the idyllic museum just after regular closing hours.

OPENING PARTY

The festival sure had its struggles in the preparation, and our beloved venue Hlemmur Square Hotel that previously hosted all our opening parties, didn’t survive the pandemic. However, the brand new Mál og Menning venue stepped in and we were able to have a fantastic opening party in this gorgeous, reformed bookstore.

Comedian Kimi Tayler was the host of the evening. Vice Versa from Dömur & herra ignited the party, the magical Storm Dunder sang guests a song from The Clown on the Fifth Floor, Three Men from the North tumbled about and St Edgar dazzled the audience with his dreamy vision. Finally guests danced to music provided by our resident Fringe DJ from Huldufugl.

Additionally there were several paintings of aerial silks on display by Ástríður Jósefína Ólafsdóttir, an aerial member of the show Game On.

FESTIVAL WEEK

The Preview Night was held at Tjarnarbíó, giving all local acts 2 minutes to present themselves on stage, and showing 1-2 minute videos from all international acts. In total there were around 50 different shows, with 40 local acts and 25 international ones.

The shows included theatre, stand-up comedy, illustrations, tattoos, cabaret, photography, film, dance and more.

Shows were presented in 8 venues: Aðalstræti 2 (Fringe Hub), Árbæjarsafn, Bar Ananas, Gallerí Fold, Mál og Menning, Mengi, The Secret Cellar and Tjarnarbíó. Additionally a mural was painted at Hotel Leifur Eiríksson at Skólavörðuholt and a roller derby disco took place at the Roller Derby Hall in Sævarhöfði.

AWARDS 2021

Yet again, it was a tough choice to give out awards, with so many fantastic shows on display.

The festival wants to put emphasis on awards that can be beneficial for the artists in the future. We collaborate with other festivals that offer acts a place to perform in the following year, and were happy to add the Maine Award to our list of awards this year, where the winner has the opportunity to perform at PortFringe in Portland, Maine in 2022.

RVK Fringe continued its collaboration with The Reykjavík Grapevine that presented the Grapevine award, that includes a full page spread interview with the winner in their next printed edition.

ACT ALONE : The Pink Hulk by Valerie David
THE MAINE AWARD + CHARACTER ACTOR : HEDY: The Life and Inventions of Hedy Lamarr by Heather Massie
BEST DUET : Friction by Riia Kivimäki + Saku Mäkelä
BEST ENSEMBLE : Lag eftir lag by FWD Youth Company
PUNCH IN THE FACE : Ást á elliheimili by Sara Rut Arnardóttir
TAKE MY BREATH AWAY : The Clown on the Fifth Floor by Storm Dunder
FUNNY AWARD : W.W.K.D. What Would Kimi Do? by Kimi Tayler
FRINGE OF THE FRINGE : Perfect World of Love by Fierbinteanu
NOTICE ME! : Identity Crisis by Danilo Nava + Lovísa Lára + Regn Sólmundur
PEN TO PAPER WALL : Angry Dan
YOUTH FRINGE AWARD : Dan Helgabur
AUDIENCE CHOICE : Linda’s Freak Show by Andrew Sim
ARTIST FAVOURITE : The Clown on the Fifth Floor by Storm Dunder
FAMILY FRIENDLY SHOW : Game On by Kria Aerialists
VOLUNTEER AWARD : Svandís Einarsdóttir
NORDIC FRINGE NETWORK AWARD : Three Men From the North by The Nordic Council
SPIRIT OF THE FRINGE : Alexander Smith
RISING STAR : Mauricio Rodriguez with the show Anyway…
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER : Mauricio Rodriguez
GRAPEVINE AWARD : Three Men From the North by The Nordic Council
GRAND PRIX : A Solo From the Pit by Elias Faingersh

Jury members were Hannah Jane (Reykjavík’s Drag King of 2020) representing Reykjavík Grapevine, Elfar Logi (actor) representing Act Alone, Tara McDonough representing PortFringe, Maddý Hauth (Gallerí Fold manager), Hanna Magdalena Gödl, Sidhant Ray and Chris O’Reilly from Gothenburg Fringe, Emilie Fanor Fontaine and Line Jensen from Bergen Fringe as well as the RVK Fringe production team with the help of venue managers, stage managers and volunteers.

FRINGE 2021: contact

In the lead up to the 2021 festival it was uncertain whether the festival could go ahead because of the global pandemic. However, all restrictions were lifted 2 days before our 2021 festival began, so the festival managed to take place in more or less normal circumstances. Performers and audiences showed up from around the world, and the festival had a record sale in tickets.

Our local performances took place in multiple venues across Reykjavík, unfortunately some classic locations dropped out as they didn’t survive the pandemic, but many new ones stepped up and took their places, fitting with the year’s theme of Contact.

For more information about individual performances, check out our Facebook Page.

Buy your festival wristband and tickets to local shows through tix.is.

KEY DATES

3 July: Gallery Opening at Gallerí Fold 14-16

3 July: Opening Show: Sauðatónar / Sheep Music at Árbæjarsafn 17-18

3 July: Opening Party at Mál og Menning 20-23

4 July: Preview Night at Tjarnarbíó 20-23

11 July: Award Ceremony at The Secret Cellar from 18-19

3 - 11 July: 70 shows performed 200+ times across the city.

VENUES

Performances took place at Aðalstræti 2 (Fringe Hub), Árbær Folk Museum, Bar Ananas, Dansverkstæðið, Gallerí Fold, Mál og Menning, Mengi, The Secret Cellar and Tjarnarbíó.

Additionally there were select outdoor performances.

FULL SCHEDULE 2021

(YOU CAN ALSO ACCESS THE FESTIVAL SCHEDULE HERE OR VIA THE SCHED APP)

READY TO FRINGE?

The theme of RVK FRINGE 2021 was CONTACT. The festival took place live, with only a couple of online performances.

We welcome an edgy program. One that crosses genres and borders. One that’s packed with entertainment that’ll make you think about the world in a new way. One with exciting venues, ones that are out of the ordinary.

For our fourth annual festival taking place 3-11 July 2021 we had around 70 shows performing around 150 times. Due to last minute planning because of a certain pandemic, the programme was released in mid June, or about 2 weeks before the festival began. The programme was accessible through this website and through an app. We are glad we were able to bring a versatile programme to Reykjavík’s stages in 2021.

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