Björk Throws an Eclipse Rave in a Balloon Gown for 7,000 in Iceland
Björk played a one-hour set timed to the exact moment a total solar eclipse darkened the sky over Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, on August 12, keeping 7,000 people dancing through totality at the one-day Echolalia festival.
The set overlapped with the eclipse's path of totality, which lasted one minute and four seconds. Björk wore a balloon gown designed by Robert Wun for his Fall 2026 Couture Collection, performing at the Víðistaðatún sculpture park in the town just south of Reykjavík. Pitchfork reported the details on August 13.
Echolalia is a multidisciplinary art project and festival created by Björk, centred on the outdoor eclipse rave and a museum exhibition. The festival also marked the 40th anniversary of Smekkleysa — Icelandic for "Bad Taste" — a label founded in 1986 by members of the country's experimental music scene.
The bill extended well beyond Björk. Venezuelan producer Arca delivered a DJ set, while 33EMYBW and Loscaballos also performed. Local Icelandic musicians filled out the day: Ronja Jóhannsdóttir, Sideproject, Gummi Arnalds and Knackered. Björk had teased the event in April through her official Instagram, writing that she was excited to invite fans and grateful for their reaction to the rave she and others — including Alejandra, Arca's given name — were hosting at the eclipse.
Every Echolalia ticket came bundled with more than a spot in the park. Admission included access to Björk's Echolalia exhibition at the National Gallery of Iceland, which runs through September 19, and a pair of custom-made, approved solar eclipse glasses. The exhibition features installations inspired by three songs: two from Björk's 2022 album Fossora — "Sorrowful Soil" and "Ancestress" — and one from an as-yet-unannounced forthcoming album.
Echolalia was not the only eclipse gathering drawing crowds to Iceland that week. Iceland Eclipse, a five-day transformational festival timed to the total solar eclipse, ran August 11–15 in the same region. But Echolalia's single-day focus on the precise window of totality gave it a singular shape: a festival built around 64 seconds of darkness, with one of Iceland's most globally recognised musicians at its centre.
For a label anniversary, the setting was unusual even by the standards of a country that treats experimental music as a civic concern. Smekkleysa has spent four decades releasing work from the margins of Icelandic culture, and Björk's decision to celebrate it with a free-falling balloon gown, a sculpture park and an eclipse timed to the second placed the label's history inside something closer to a spectacle than a retrospective. The exhibition at the National Gallery, drawing on songs about grief and lineage, will outlast the rave by more than a month.
