Thorrablot: winter food festival explained
Traditional Icelandic Thorrablot spread with fermented shark and dried fish
Late January to late February is when Icelanders eat their weirdest traditional foods — here's what's on the plate and where to try it.
What Thorrablot actually is
Thorri is the old Icelandic winter month, running from the Friday between 19 and 25 January (Bondadagur, Husband's Day) to the Saturday between 18 and 24 February (Konudagur, Woman's Day). Thorrablot is the midwinter feast tradition that revived in the 1950s and now sees community halls, workplaces and families gathering for a specific menu.
The classic Thorramatur platter includes: hakarl (fermented shark, aged three months, tastes like ammonia), svid (singed sheep's head, halved), sursadir hrutspungar (ram's testicles pickled in whey), hangikjot (smoked lamb), harofiskur (dried fish, eaten with butter), rugbraud (rye bread steamed in geothermal ground), and washed down with brennivin (caraway schnapps, nicknamed Black Death).
Where to eat it and what to expect elsewhere
Cafe Loki opposite Hallgrimskirkja serves a Thorramatur tasting plate year-round for around 3,900 ISK — the tourist-friendly entry point. Islenski Barinn on Ingolfsstraeti does a bigger version around 6,500 ISK. During Thorri itself, larger hotels like Radisson Blu Saga and Grand Hotel host formal Thorrablot dinners for 12,000-18,000 ISK.
This isn’t a marketed tourist festival — most Thorrablot events are private, held in community centres by neighbourhood associations. Ask your hotel; some sell single tickets to local blots for around 8,000 ISK. Hotel prices during Thorri are still low-season (20,000-26,000 ISK downtown), so it's a cheap month to visit with a genuine cultural hook.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Reykjavik.
No. Nobody's forcing you. Icelanders themselves are split on it — many wouldn’t touch it. Try a small cube with a shot of brennivin as a rite of passage, then eat the smoked lamb and rye bread, which are genuinely delicious.
Thorri 2026 runs from Friday 23 January to Saturday 21 February. Community Thorrablot dinners cluster in the first two weekends of February. Check with venues from early January for public tickets.
