An annual city-wide celebration of York's Viking heritage with living history encampments, workshops, traditional crafts, feasts, family events, evening entertainment and dramatic combat performances.
The JORVIK Viking Festival returns to the JORVIK Viking Centre from Monday 8 to Sunday 14 February 2027, running for a full week across the city. It's an annual thing, and this one is based at the centre on Coppergate, YO1 9WT, though the festival itself spills out across York.
It's a big one — recognised as the largest Viking festival in Europe, it brings in around 40,000 visitors every year from all over the place, with a good number coming back year after year. It was started in 1985 by the team behind the JORVIK Viking Centre, who also run DIG, the hands-on archaeological adventure for children, and Barley Hall, a historic medieval townhouse in the city centre. The whole thing is built around bringing 10th-century York back to life.
Over the week, that means living history encampments, workshops, traditional crafts, feasts, family events, evening entertainment and dramatic combat performances. There are more than 18 talks, free sessions and fringe events on top of that, so it's not just one thing to see — you can pick and choose what you fancy across the seven days. It's a city-wide celebration of York's Viking heritage, and it's run by the same team that keeps the JORVIK Viking Centre going.
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When the festival finishes on Sunday 14 February, the JORVIK Viking Centre stays open daily, so you can still head in and journey back through the city's Viking past. The festival itself runs from Monday 8 to Sunday 14 February 2027, with the main hub at the centre on Coppergate, YO1 9WT.
Date
8 February – 14 February
Location
JORVIK Viking Centre, CoppergatePrice
Paid
Recommended Age
+6 years
