The Icelandic Festival of Manitoba, held annually in Gimli, has been honoured as the 2025 Event of the Year at the Manitoba Tourism Awards. This recognition celebrates the long-standing cultural and economic contributions of the festival, which draws more than 25,000 visitors to the lakeside community every August long weekend.
The festival, known in Icelandic as Íslendingadagurinn, has been celebrated since 1890. It has been hosted in Gimli since 1932 and is recognized as the second-oldest continuous ethnic festival in North America. The 136th edition took place from August 1 to August 4, 2025, continuing a tradition that keeps local heritage alive for the approximately 26,000 people of Icelandic ancestry living in the province.
Gimli is home to the largest concentration of Icelanders outside of Iceland, a unique demographic that supports the festival’s ongoing success. Beyond its cultural significance, the event serves as a major driver for the local economy in the Interlake region. This award follows another achievement for the festival, which was recognized for Marketing Campaign of the Year at the 3rd Annual Tourism Awards in April 2025 for its Century of Fjallkona promotional work.
The awards, co-hosted by Travel Manitoba and Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism, highlight the importance of the industry to the provincial economy. Across Manitoba, tourism reached record levels in 2024, welcoming 10.6 million visitors who contributed $1.89 billion in spending. This influx of visitors generated nearly $400 million in annual tax revenue for the province.
