The festival began in February 1985, a year after the JORVIK Viking Centre opened on the Coppergate excavation site, as a way of bringing visitors to York in the quiet winter weeks, and it has run every February since. It is organised by York Archaeology (the former York Archaeological Trust, the charity that dug Coppergate in 1976–81) and is timed to the February school half-term; the organisers link it to Jólablót, the Norse midwinter feast. The 2026 edition ran 16–22 February; the 2027 festival is confirmed for February half-term with dates still to be published.
Through the week a free living-history encampment and 10th-century traders’ market occupy Parliament Street in the city centre, with daily Viking walks, archaeology talks, family craft sessions, a ‘Berserker Boot Camp’, the Best Beard competition, Strongest Viking contests, mead tastings and a ticketed feast. On the final Saturday hundreds of warriors (450 in 2025) parade in the March to Coppergate, followed by single combat in the ‘Circle of Treachery’ and a pitched battle between the rival armies of the Wolves and the Boars at the Eye of York below Clifford’s Tower; an Evening Spectacular with pyrotechnics closes the festival (about 1,000 paying spectators in 2025). Boat-burning, once the finale’s signature, has been dropped.
Many events are free; the finale, the feast, workshops and some talks are ticketed (finale tickets have been around £20 a head in recent years) and most ticketed events sold out in 2025, so book early. Around 40,000 people attend over the week.
York is about two hours from London King’s Cross by train. Expect half-term crowds in the centre and winter weather at the outdoor battle; the encampment, Barley Hall and the JORVIK Viking Centre itself are the indoor anchors.
