A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the Sun, perfectly blotting out its bright light. For a few minutes, the world is plunged into darkness, while the Sun’s corona – the hot plasma that forms its atmosphere – is easier to view. “It’s one of the few experiences that instantly reminds us of the miraculous fact that we’re living on a moving planet within a much larger cosmic system,” says Mitch Morales, founder of IMXP and producer of Iceland Eclipse, a festival that aims to tap into the unique energy of the upcoming eclipse in Europe. “For a few extraordinary minutes, everyone looks up together. Differences disappear. We share the same sky.”

Total solar eclipses happen roughly every 18 months, but only cross the same spot once in around 400 years. The path of totality in 2026 – meaning the places you can see the eclipse in full effect – will cross Iceland, Greenland, and parts of Portugal and northern Spain. Significant partial eclipses will be visible in the UK (where the effect will be at its strongest since 1999) plus vast swathes of Europe. One of the objectively best places to view totality, though, is the wild and remote Snæfellsnes Peninsula in western Iceland. And guess what? That’s exactly where Iceland Eclipse is set to be held.

Billed as a five-day immersive experience, Iceland Eclipse will be “headlined” by the celestial event itself, explains Morales. The event begins with the eclipse, with the remaining four days featuring music, conversation, science, art, and workshops on everything from spiritual practices, to space travel and ecology. “We're doing something remarkably ambitious in a remote place because some moments deserve that level of effort,” he says. “If we can gather 3,333 eclipse seekers to witness one of nature's rarest events together, we believe that shared sense of wonder has the power to stay with people long after they return home.” 

As part of its mission to send visitors away feeling “realigned with the cosmos”, Iceland Eclipse has assembled a diverse array of performers, speakers, artists, scientists, storytellers, and mystics. From one day to the next, you might catch a set by Imogen Heap or local artists including Daði Freyr and Vök; a sound healing ceremony, a presentation by a pioneering astronaut or creative technologist, and a fireside talk by a local fisherman. “Wonder was our guiding principle,” says Morales of the curation. “Whether someone is composing music, studying distant galaxies, designing spacecraft, building new technologies, studying consciousness, exploring the inner world, or creating immersive art, they're all asking fundamentally similar questions: Who are we? Where are we going? What is possible?”

“Whether someone is composing music, studying distant galaxies, designing spacecraft, building new technologies, studying consciousness... they're all asking fundamentally similar questions” – Mitch Morales

The experience will also include options for excursions to local sites, including glaciers, the 8,000-year-old Vatnshellir lava cave, and Ingjaldshólskirkja, considered the oldest of the country’s iconic concrete churches. Lots of festivals bill themselves as once-in-a-lifetime events, but in this case it’s true – the next full eclipse over Iceland will happen in 2196. However, there are already plans for Egypt Eclipse in 2027, with a previous event held in Texas.

Find out more about Iceland Eclipse here.