There is a busy weekend coming up with bears taking over the local gay scene. The "Men Only Dance" at the downtown venue Iðusalur (Lækjargata 2) September 8th (Saturday night) marks the highlight of the weekend with Danish DJ Mikael Costa performing and the local DJs Dramatik and Bistro Boy. A special guest performer will be the gay icon Páll Óskar (Paul Oscar) who is also Iceland´s most popular singer and performer. House opens 10 pm. Free drink for those who show up early! Pre sale tickets cost ISK 1.000 and are available at the Queer Center (Samtökin '78) on Laugavegur 3 or ISK 1.500 at the door Saturday night.

For the 8th time BEARS ON ICE will take over Reykjavik´s gay scene for a long weekend, September 6-9. The event has been growing every year since it was first held in 2005 and this year event organizers have a record number of guests coming for the event from all over the world. Event program has a good number of activities on the list such as Golden Circle sight seeing tour, trip to the geothermal Blue lagoon and a visit to the Icelandic Phallological Museum. In addition there is a party organized every night starting with the opening party at the Queer Center Thursday night (September 6th), A Furry Friday at Club Faktory (September 7th) and Saturday men only party (September 8th) at Iða (Lækjargata 2, city center).

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Reykjavik Gay Pride has finished but Gayice.is has kept a good record of what was happening during a week of fantastic and fun events. Gay Pride weekend had an early start with Iceland´s most entertaining competition, The Iceland Drag Contest (Draggkeppni Íslands) where Iceland get to choose the King and Queen for the year. 

Once again Reykjavik Gay Pride weekend is over. This year´s pride was just as successful as the successful prides in the past if not more successful for the vibe and the message it brought. It was definitely more political in a way than I recall. Reykjavik´s mayor Mr. Jon Gnarr made a strong statement in the Saturday parade with his act when showing support to the Russian feminists Pussy Riot who have been behind bars for speaking up and speaking their mind in their home country.

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The annual Human Rights Prize, given to individuals and a group or an organization for their contribution to the humanitarian cause, where handed out last night at the Reykjavik Gay Pride Opening ceremony last night.  Anna Kristjánsdóttir (pictured above) was awarded for her long time contribution to the LGBT cause but Anna has been on the front line for a very long time fighting for the recognition of transgender people in Iceland and their basic human rights. Óttar Guðmundson is a medical doctor has been supporting transgenders in Iceland for a long time and paving the way for improved medical treatment and support in Iceland. Mbl TV is an online web tv has run a series of episodes with interviews with transgender individuals as well as coming out stories, raising the awareness on LGBT issues. 

On Wednesday August 8th four exhibitions open in the Town hall, Ráðhús Reykjavíkur. They all celebrate diversity and the importance of human rights. One of them will show photos from Reykjavik Gay Pride though the years from photographers  Geir Ragnarsson and Bára Kristinsdóttir. The first Reykjvavik Gay Pride was in 1999 when 1500 persons gathered at Ingólfstorg and then grew each year to become one of the three biggest annual events in Reykjavik in recent years. Read more ...

It is undoubtedly Iceland´s most entertaining competetion. The Icelandic Drag competition has for a few years now marked an early beginning of Reykjavik Gay Pride weekend. This year the event will take place in Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall, Reykjavik´s newes icon. The drag show and the competition has been an important part of the local gay scene where boys (drag queens) and girls (drag kings) dress up to celebrate the oldest form of theatre known in the world and put on a good show. This is a fun event to watch and definitely worth attending! The show takes about 2 hours and is full of fun and laughter that you don't want to miss. Ticket cost ISK 2.800, click here to buy online ticket for the show.

It´s the beginning of August and Reykjavik Gay Pride is just around the corner. We´re all getting pretty excited as Gay Pride is an exciting and fun event which it should be. This year Reykjavik Gay Pride welcomes it´s guests with variety of events including concerts, exhibitions, film documentaries and stand up with British comedienne Zoe Lyons which is on her first visit to Iceland. The Saturday Parade will as always mark the highlight of the festival with thousands of Icelanders and visitors from abroad watching the colorful gay pride parade march downtown and the outdoor pride concert at Arnarhóll outdoor stage.

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