Verslunarmannahelgi (“Merchants‘ Weekend”) initially came about because the first Monday in August was designated a statutory holiday for merchants and anyone working in trade in Iceland. adside shops and tourist shops are mostly open during the whole weekend and even on Monday. Meanwhile, most other icelanders are enjoying an extra day off, because Monday is simply a bank holiday and the weekend leading up to it is the summer’s biggest camping and festival weekend in Iceland.
During the „verslunarmannahelgi“, the Merchants‘ Weekend, the town of Akureyri hosts the event "Ein með Öllu" family festival: where live music, tivoli and different performances fill up the streets of Akureyri together with sportevents on the Iceland Summer Games.
The festivals offers many events and everybody should find a suitable event. To name a few there while be a fairground, entertainment for children, a request song concert in the Akureyri church and marketplace in the town center, a the fundraising event „moms and muffins“ (i. „mömmur og möffins“) and during the final night of the festival there will be the large concert of the festival itself called „Sparitónleikar“ in Icelandic. Well known Icelandic artists will perform, bands, solo artists and promising young artists. The festival will finally conclude with an extensive fireworks show.
Parallel to the festival there will be the Icelandic summer games in the town. There will be a footrace in the church stairs, a beach volleyball tournament in Kjarnaskógur, which is a forest to the south of Akureyri. Additionally the Motorcycle Club Tían will hold a conjunction of motorcycles driving in the town and a triathlon in Hrafnagil, which is a small village about 12,5 km south of Akureyri.