Iceland Airwaves confirms it will extend festival outside Reykjavík for 2017

With a population of around 18,000, Akureyri is a four and half hour drive from the capital and festival director Grímur Atlason sees the expansion of the yearly event as something vital to expanding tourism to Iceland's second largest urban area. "It is important that it isn’t just foreigners at Airwaves, and also that foreigners visit the main centre of North Iceland," says Atlason. "That’s been the plan for a long time.”

A mixture of local and international artists - around "20 to 26" of them - will play across several stages in Akureyri, along with a number of off-venue shows. Packages offered by Icelandair and Air Iceland mean tourists will be able to start their stay in Akureyri and end up in the capital, with direct flights from Keflavik to Akureyri.