Rite of Spring Festival - 17-19th May 2007, Reykjavik

Rite of Spring is a new music festival - focusing on cutting edge Folk, Jazz and World Music - taking place in Reykjavik for the second time May 17-19 2007.

Among last year headline acts were Serbian Gypsy band Kal, Brazilian bossanova gutarist Ife Tolentino, Icelandic pioneers and jazz–funksters Mezzoforte and Scottish/Latin American folk fusion Salsa Celtica - who brought the festival to a stunning close last year and will return for this years festival.

The "scene-stealers Salsa Celtica" as one journalist put it, brought the "entire audence to its feet with its swirling melodies and virtuoso musicianship. The combination is clearly greater than the sum of its parts, their performance an irresistible force and ecstatic experience."

Oumou Sangaré (MALI), "The Songbird of Wassoulou", and Goran Bregovic, with his Wedding and Funeral Band (former YUG), will also headline Rite of Spring 2007.

The first Rite of Spring event was well received by music fans within and outside of Iceland with journalsits from BBC, Songlines, Drowned in Sound and Mojo all praising the program and their experience in their publications:

Its location half way between Europe and the Americas gives Iceland a natural opportunity to showcase the best of both continents’ folk music. (...) The festival is still in its infancy but, based on its first year, it could well find itself a fixture on the international circuit in years to come. -Stuart Williams, Mojo
"Sweet flew onstage and off as one style of Morphed furiously into another. (...) Rite of Spring was well and truly sprung!" -Songlines festival profile.

Rite of Spring is produced and promoted by Mr. Destiny - in cooperation with Icelandair. Mr. Destiny is also behind the renowned Iceland Airwaves festival.

“Rite of Spring is a new concept which we are developing for the first time in Iceland focusing on cutting edge Folk, Jazz and World Music. We will build it slowly over the next few years in a similar way to Airwaves but with a completely different musical vision” says Thorsteinn Stephensen owner of Mr. Destiny.

Pictures taken by Oskar Hallgrimsson
More information:
http://www.riteofspring.is