Iceland Airwaves Draw Music Fans for Festival, Stay for the Sights (VIDEO)

Iceland has a name that brings to mind cold and isolation, with only eight hours of daylight in November, but the Iceland Airwaves is an annual festival held in the country that draws music enthusiasts, such as artists, bands and DJs, as well as music fans, from around the world, according to FOX News.

The festival first launched in 1999, when music fans gathered at an airplane hangar. This year, 8,000 people attended the festival, with over half of those in attendance traveling to Iceland from other countries.

The festival has expanded to include multiple days in dozens of venues throughout Reykjavik. The festival spans five days, beginning in late October. Rolling Stone has called it "the hippest long weekend on the annual music festival calendar."

Bands that have performed at the festival include Bjork, Iceland's most well known celebrity, Florence + the Machine, and Of Monsters and Men, another Icelandic band. They play in 30-minute sets to allow fans to see over a dozen bands per day if they space their schedule carefully enough.

There is even an available app to give fans access to schedules and venues, as well as maps and biographies on the performing artists.

All the events are relatively close together in Reykjavik, allowing festivalgoers to walk from place to place easily.

The setting is likely a big draw for the festival, with many of those in attendance adding extra days onto their trip so they have some extra time for sightseeing. Among the most common stops are three places in what is known as the "Golden Circle," which includes Þingvellir National Park, Gullfoss and the Haukadalur geothermal area. These locations allow visitors to see the separation of tectonic plates from the continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates.

There are also active geysers that can be seen, erupting approximately five times per day. The Northern Lights may also be visible.