The Icelandic New Year’s Eve tradition involving community bonfires is called brenna.
Brennur are public bonfires held around Iceland during the evening of December 31. People gather around them before midnight, creating a communal celebration that combines local social life with the symbolic farewell to the old year. The bonfires are followed or accompanied by fireworks, which are especially prominent in Icelandic New Year celebrations.
Iceland’s fire traditions are shaped partly by the country’s dark winter season. The December solstice is close to New Year, and daylight is limited in much of the country, so outdoor firelight has a strong practical and cultural presence.
Brenna should not be confused with jólabókaflóð, the Icelandic Christmas Book Flood, when books are traditionally exchanged and read around Christmas. Nor is it the name of Iceland’s fireworks themselves. The term refers specifically to a bonfire or bonfire event.