Iceland Airwaves as a communication platform and the channel of ideas

Abstract

The Iceland Airwaves music festival has been held yearly since 1999. The festival‘s goal is and always has been threefold: to promote Icelandic music in Iceland and abroad; to advance culture and music life in Iceland; and to grow the number of tourists traveling to Iceland outside the high season. According to the definitions of O‘Sullivan and Jackson (2002), Iceland Airwaves would be categorized as a big-bang festival, functioning mainly as a marketing tool for Iceland and its music. Iceland Airwaves, with its numerous international guests, also fits well with their definition of festival tourism, where people come from all around to attend a festival. At the same time the festival has certain Icelandic characteristics, which make is unique internationally. In this article we explore to what extent Iceland Airwaves has succeeded in fulfilling all three goals. Our conclusions suggest that Iceland Airwaves promotes diversity in Icelandic music and culture, and that the uniqueness of Icelandic music is what allows the festival to fulfill all three goals.