AURORA WATERCOLOUR FESTIVAL 2026

The Iceland Watercolour Festival will take place in Akureyri from September 10th to 15th. Over a hundred people are expected to visit the town for the event, arriving from both within Iceland and abroad. The festival kicks off on Thursday, September 10th, at 5:00 PM with the opening of an exhibition at the Art Museum featuring around 90 watercolour works by artists from 21 countries; the exhibition will run until September 27th.

Five world-renowned artists who have dedicated their careers to watercolour painting are visiting the country: Björn Bernström (Sweden), Nicolás Lopez (Peru), Julia Ustinovich (Poland), Prafull Sawant (India), and Julia Barminova (Portugal). The Gilfélagið Art Association is a festival partner, and Sawant, Barminova, and Ustinovich will hold workshops at Deiglan; however, demand has exceeded capacity, as all workshops scheduled during the festival are fully booked.

Tickets for the festival itself sold out earlier this week. In addition to demonstrations at the Art Museum and the workshops, the program includes field trips to Mývatn and Svalbarðseyri, where participants will paint en plein air (outdoors), weather permitting. Polish painter Daria Kudlenkova will also lead sketching tours through the town center, which are likely to catch the attention of passersby.

For more information, please visit the festival website: www.watercolour.is.