I grew up in the North Highlands of Scotland, where winter comes early, the light is gone by mid-afternoon, and the single track roads between villages can feel very long. The occasional overturned car with continental European plates suggested that some visitors were unaccustomed to Highland driving methods.
But even there, the wider world had a way of finding us.
As a boy, I watched Soviet ships drop anchor in Loch Broom. These were the days of the Klondykers, the floating fish factories that brought crews from the Soviet Union and elsewhere into Ullapool. Sailors would come ashore in dinghies and make a beeline for the shop selling the latest electronics.
Around 1984 or 1985, before I had learned Russian, I sketched some chess pieces to show a few of the sailors. One recognized what I meant.
“Ah, shakhmaty!”
They took me back to their ship, where I played three games against the captain. He beat me 2–1. I was fourteen.
By the late 1980s, I was taking part in Fèis Rois at The Ceilidh Place in Ullapool. For those few days, the whole of the northwest seemed to crowd into this small harbor town. Alongside musicians from across the Highlands were performers from as far away as the Andes, draped in vividly colored ponchos. Fiddles, pipes, and Gaelic songs filled the rooms. Families drove in from the villages, and people who might otherwise only meet at a wedding or funeral ended up listening to the same tunes and stories.
I’ve thought about those days in Ullapool often while writing about Greenland. Most towns and settlements have no roads connecting them, so getting together can mean a flight, a boat trip, or, in some places, a journey by dog sled. People make the effort when there’s something worth coming for.
This winter, Ilulissat is getting both a new way in and a reason to come.
A New Way In
Ilulissat’s new international airport is scheduled to open on October 29, 2026, bringing a direct connection to Copenhagen. Air Greenland plans to mark the day with an inaugural flight on its Airbus A330neo, Tuukkaq.
Regular winter service begins in November, with Jettime operating Boeing 737-800 flights mainly on Wednesdays, plus selected Monday departures around Christmas, New Year’s, and in March. From April 2027, Air Greenland’s new Airbus A320neo, Unaaq, is due to take over, with up to six weekly direct flights planned at the height of summer.
Greenland Airports plans to build activity gradually through the opening months, giving staff time to establish routines before the busier season.
“This time, we are deliberately allowing more time for employees to get familiar with the routines,” said Anna Villefrance, program manager for commissioning at Ilulissat Airport, pointing to lessons learned from Nuuk Airport’s opening in 2024.
Music played on the landscape itself
A few months into the airport’s first winter, Ice Music Greenland is scheduled to return to Ilulissat on February 18–20, 2027, according to the festival’s official website.
Presented in partnership with the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre, the event features ice-music pioneer Terje Isungset alongside other musicians and artists, performing on instruments made from naturally formed ice.
The setting is half the story. Organizers plan a venue built from snow and ice outside the center, close to the fjord that sends icebergs out into Disko Bay. Where The Ceilidh Place had warm rooms and a breeze off Loch Broom, Ilulissat will have frozen walls and music made from the landscape around it.
The festival’s website promises concerts under a full moon. Whether the clouds cooperate is another matter, but that is part of traveling this far north.
A building shaped by the wind
The Icefjord Centre deserves a visit in its own right. Designed by Danish architect Dorte Mandrup and opened in 2021, it stands at Sermermiut beside the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat Icefjord.
Mandrup has compared its sweeping form to a snowy owl in flight. Raised above the ground, the building allows meltwater to pass beneath it, while its shape helps prevent snow from accumulating. Its roof forms a public walkway and viewing platform when conditions allow.
Inside, the permanent exhibition explores ice, climate, and the people who have lived beside the fjord for thousands of years. Ice cores preserve a record reaching back more than 100,000 years. There is also a café, which offers a welcome opportunity to sit down and absorb what you have seen.
Leave room to see Greenland
Most of us who travel to Greenland for work know the pattern: land, meet, site visit, dinner, early flight. You can do that trip a dozen times and never really see where you’ve been.
Prof. Mickey Scheinowitz of Tel Aviv took time to explore during his October visit and shared his account with GreenlandEnergy.com.
He described fishermen working among ice-crusted boats at the harbor, a warm meal at Cafe Inuit, visits to Zion Church and the Ilulissat Art Museum, and a workshop where local artists carved tupilaks and bone figures.
At the Icefjord Centre, he learned about Sermeq Kujalleq, the glacier feeding the fjord, before following the boardwalk into the landscape. On a snow-covered cliff, he was “completely mesmerized by a massive iceberg floating serenely across the deep blue waters.”
Kayaking gave him a different view of the ice, close to the water. Later, from his hotel balcony, he watched green curtains of northern lights reflected in the bay.
Those are the experiences that make a place more than a destination on an itinerary.
Don’t be dull
There’s an old saying where I grew up, as in most places: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. For readers whose Greenland travel revolves around work, February offers a reason to leave room for something else.
There is a practical side, too. Winter events can bring customers to hotels, restaurants, guides, and shops outside the busiest summer months, helping the town benefit from its improved connections.
Organizers recommend arriving with time to spare in case weather disrupts travel and booking accommodation early. Festival information and links to the program and tickets are available on the official Ice Music Greenland website.
Decades later, I still remember those evenings in Ullapool, and the game I won against that Soviet captain, more clearly than most of the meetings I’ve attended since.
The meetings will still be there in the morning.
Flight schedules, festival dates, performers, and program details are subject to change. Check with the airline and festival organizers for the latest schedules and ticket availability before booking travel.
GreenlandEnergy.com provides independent analysis of Greenland’s energy landscape, critical minerals development, and Arctic geopolitics. For corrections or feedback: press@greenlandenergy.com
