Beer Day 2025 in Iceland

There's a thing called the Beer Day in numerous countries around the world, but the Icelandic one has an interesting story behind it

Dates: February 28–March 1

No wonder that the Icelanders love to celebrate Beer Day, everyone would if they had almost a century-long prohibition of beer import. The Spanish started it all! They prohibited the import of fish from Iceland, and the Icelanders struck back. No alcohol, no wine, no beer—what a sad story. When the prohibition ended in 1989, the locals were so happy that a new holiday emerged and was manifested in imbibing the drink in various restaurants, bars, and clubs. From that time on, on March 1st, there has been a celebration that features the infamous bar crawls or „runtur, “a prevalent way of getting acquainted with the various bars and beers in this city. Many of them stay open until 4:00 am the next day, where everyone can join and party.

The bars, clubs, and restaurants located in Reykjavík, the largest city and the capital of Iceland, get especially wild on Beer Day. The legalization of beer remains a major seismic shift in the nation’s alcoholic beverage preference and a cultural turning point in Iceland. Today, beer is considered to be the most popular alcoholic beverage.