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Midwest Viking
Festival
September 19 & 20, 2025 • 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. • Free
UW-Green Bay is the proud host of the annual Midwest Viking Festival which explores Scandinavian history and the daily life of the region from a thousand years ago. Located at the Viking House grounds north of the Wood Hall lot, the festival celebrates the craft traditions, food, stories and many other aspects of medieval Scandinavia (Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). Nearly 3,000 intrepid explorers joined us last year and we invite you to join the next expedition. Kom igjen!
Family Friendly
Gather with friends and family around a steaming cauldron and learn about that down-home Viking hospitality.
Interactive
Connect with different types of professions who are experts in crafts and cooking.
Cultural
Hear stories, songs and tales from those long-gone days.
Activities &
Entertainment
- A Viking encampment with blacksmiths, silversmiths, a potter, weavers, woodworkers, glass bead makers, medieval games (hnaftafl and kubb), archery and cooks making food with ingredients only available during the Viking Age.
- Stories from the Viking Age told by Sven Tunheim, song and tales from Kari Tauring and battle demonstrations showing how the famous weapons of the Viking Age were used in duels and a shield wall.
- Tours of the Viking House by Elspeth and Owen Christiansen.
- Activities for kids (archery, a “Viking Quest” scavenger hunt, kubb, get your name written in runes).
- Rune readings!
2025 Schedule of Events
The performance and demonstration schedule is the same for both days. The Sons of Norway will be selling cookies and chocolate bars. For a more substantial fare, the food truck Caribbean Cruiser will have delicious lunches for purchase. While entrance to the festival is free, there is a cost for snacks, food, and other items sold by vendors.
Friday, September 19th
| Time | Events |
|---|---|
| 10 a.m. | Festival Opening! |
| 10 a.m. | Lars Walker (author talk) Writing about the Viking Age |
| 11 a.m. | Battle Demonstrations! |
| 12 p.m. | Skogtroll – Early Scandinavian Music |
| 1 p.m. | Sven Tunheim – Viking Storytelling |
| 2 p.m. | Kari Tauring – Cosmic Song Journey through the landscape of Edda poetry with völva Kari - nature singing, bone and tree flutes, and the horns she loves to play. If you blow through a tube, anywhere in the world, you will get the same interval of three tones. A hollow branch, the cow horn, and the radius of a swan's wing will all make these three tones. In Edda poetry, the cosmos is sung into being by these three tones. Humans are created from trees, like the flute itself, blown into being by Odin. Immerse yourself in the stories and sounds of nature, the sounds of creation! |
| 3 p.m. | Battle Demonstration! |
| 4 p.m. | Festival Closes |
Saturday, September 20th
| Time | Events |
|---|---|
| 10 a.m. | Festival Opening |
| 10:10 a.m. | Lars Walker (author talk) Writing about the Viking Age (in the Viking House) |
| 10:30 a.m. | Kari Tauring – Cosmic Song Journey through the landscape of Edda poetry with völva Kari - nature singing, bone and tree flutes, and the horns she loves to play. If you blow through a tube, anywhere in the world, you will get the same interval of three tones. A hollow branch, the cow horn, and the radius of a swan's wing will all make these three tones. In Edda poetry, the cosmos is sung into being by these three tones. Humans are created from trees, like the flute itself, blown into being by Odin. Immerse yourself in the stories and sounds of nature, the sounds of creation! |
| 11:30 a.m. | Battle Demonstration |
| 12:30 p.m. | Sven Tunheim – Viking Storytelling |
| 1:30 p.m. | Kari Tauring – Runes and Runos Ru is a shared word between Scandinavian and Finnic people. Rune markings in Norway date to 60 CE. From Proto-Germanic meaning secret or whispered mystery it can be the markings, the postures, the phonemes being sung, or the one who practices these things. Similarly in Finnish, runo can be a poem, a song, or the singer - the poet magician. Both connecting the human voice to nature and the magic held within. When it was forbidden by the church to practice runes something sad happened to them and to their meanings. We will explore the stories of these changes and see how runes can connect us back to nature and community today. |
| 2:30 p.m. | Battle Demonstration |
| 3:30 p.m. | Skogtroll – Early Scandinavian Music |
| 4 p.m. | Festival Closing |
Contact Us! Skal!
Meet Heidi Sherman, the director of the Viking House and the person who organizes our Midwest Viking Festival. If you have questions, just ask!