Festivities are being held across the country today and in Hafnarfjörður, a neighbouring town of Reykjavík, the town’s organisers asked Eva Ágústa Aradóttir to take on the revered duty of being Lady of the Mountain.

“I’m very excited about this and think it’s going to be a fun day,” Eva Ágústa said to GayIceland’s journalist as she was making last preparations for the big event.

The Lady of the Mountain (Fjallkona) is the national personification of Iceland and always makes an appearance on the 17th of June, Iceland’s National Day, wearing the “Skautbúningur” which is the most prestigious type of the women’s Icelandic costumes.

Often portrayed be actresses, the Lady of the Mountain takes the stage and reads a poem, a tradition since the establishment of the Icelandic republic in 1944.

Eva says she had heard a rumour within the trans community that the organisers in Hafnarfjörður were looking for a trans woman. “I thought it would be thrilling but was hesitant at the same time. But when they contacted me a few days later I thought it was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse, a once in a lifetime chance to be the Lady of the Mountain.”