This past weekend the Nordic Heritage Museum held is Viking Days festival. A couple of food booths, plenty of crafts and live music. Initially I hadn’t planned on going, but Sunday rolled around and I was looking for something to do with the kids.
While Laura stayed home to get some of her prep work done for the coming school year and Xavier was down for nap, I took August, Déla and Ciárán. Amazingly we found parking less than half a block away. I was rather surprised about this, but thankful.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, honestly. Was this going to be a big festival? Or just a couple ob booths? Turns out it was larger than I initially expected, but it was small. Most of the area was taken up by craft booths and people selling their wares. A beer garden was there, but I couldn’t take the kids in. The main food tent didn’t have anything vegetarian, and the line for ice cream was huge. Food was out of the question.
Music was being played, and the instruments were … old. I have a hard time describing them. They almost looked like a hurdy gurdy but were played with a bow. The music was alright, but the kids weren’t as interested as I was, so we started walking about.
Ciaran and August in Viking poses
Ciaran and Dela – look at her sneer!
A Viking village was set up, which is stretching the terminology of village. A few tents were set up, people in period clothing, real tools, etc. This was the most educational aspect of the festival. The people talked about the equipment they had, how it was used, and more. It was interesting to see the kids as they were fascinated with what appeared to be history coming to life in front of them. Getting to walk into one of the tents was a very cool as well. While it wasn’t *big* it was well worth the trip.
Dela drawing a horse
After playing on the playground a little bit (the Nordic Heritage Museum is housed in a building that used to be a school – I think) the kids worked on some crafts at the kids booth. You could make cork Vikings or Viking shields out of paper plates. Ciárán managed to get both a cork Viking as well as a shield made. August only got a cork Viking and Déla a shield.
Did I mention the replica Viking ship? That was Ciárán’s favorite thing there.
I do wish my camera battery hadn’t crapped out. That was the most disappointing aspect of this whole event. I only got a couple of pictures of the kids before my camera died. And it wasn’t until I left that I realized I should used the camera on my phone.
Ciaran and August working on their cork Vikings
Their finished Vikings
We were getting hot, and the kids were getting antsy so we left. Coupled with our recent trip to the Dublinia museum in Dublin, I may not be as greatly informed about that sliver of Viking ancestry going through me as I perhaps could be, but I do know more than I did a month ago.