Sadd (2009), suggests that events should be involved in an overall resort development strategy and for a constantly evolving destination, these events can add differentiation. The Harpa Building holds lots of different events from conferences to performances with their own orchestra and is a spectacular building to visit.
Due to the time of year that we went, there wasn't many events going on that displayed the art and culture of Reykjavik. I do think these go on during the summer months, just like ours do at home. It did say that there was a pride festival going on but I didn't seem to see this anywhere. We soon found out that the festival was private in different venues and you had to pay for tickets to go to it. Some of these tickets were even in packages such as the northern lights tour! This is extremely different from our pride festivals at home where huge parades are out in the street celebrating with everyone, residents and tourists. This may be because Iceland is well known for being one of the best countries to be homosexual and they don't feel the need to display this in the streets and maybe kept it as part of their culture. This could make room in the market for cultural festivals that are open to tourists so that we can learn more about Icelandic locals.
Despite events being a well known way to regenerate a community and improve the image of a destination, it is the attractions in Iceland that brand the place. There is almost no need for events to take this role as the uniqueness of each site promotes Iceland all on its own.
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