By TR Robertson Photos by Brian Robertson
The annual Vista Viking Festival brought thousands of people to a section of the Antique Gas & Steam Engine grounds in Vista over the weekend. The Vista Viking Festival is a time for many of the those attending to dress and act as though they are living back in the time of the Vikings, except instead of the cold north of the Scandinavian countries they enjoyed the temperate weather of Southern California. Arriving before the festival opened, my son Brian, the photographer for the day, and I walked around the area designated for the festival to get the lay of the land and speak with many of the vendors and participants for the day. The organizers of the festival provided maps for those entering that showed where all of the vendors, entertainment, activities and exhibits could be found. Assisting with security was the Gurkhas Rugby Club of North County, around since 1976 and playing matches at the San Marcos Middle School.
We wandered down the long line of food and drink vendors where guests found a variety of food and drink choices to choose from as the festival always sets up the food choices so no vendor offers the same food item as the next vendor. This year’s selections included Frigg’n God Flatbread, Viking Vittle’s Meat Pies, Elixir Potions Boba Drinks and Ice Cream (with Lingonberry Lemonade as one choice), The Viking Grill, Bread and Cheese Eatery, Lefse from The House of Norway, and The Viking Kitchen. Brian chose the Viking Grill to get the famous Bergerker Dog (a ¼ lb. polish sausage with peppers). I stayed fairly simple with a meat and cheese meat pie and Brian added a flakey sausage roll. The flatbread selections included a variety of choices called Thor, Loki, Frigg and Vegan, each with different ingredients included. By midday long lines could be found at all of the food vendors. You could pay for your food with cash, a card or tickets you could purchase as you entered the festival grounds.
Moving on down the line, next were the various breweries and meaderies that offered selections to try, many specially designed for the Viking Festival. This year’s selections included Prohibition Brewing Company, Ragin Cider & Mead Company, Battle Mage Brewing Company, Golden Coast Mead, Arcana Brewing, Meadiocrity, Burgeon Beer Company, Wild West Mead Company, The Lost Abbey and Twisted Horn Mead & Cider. This area was very popular at midday and in the afternoon as the sun came out and lots of folks wanted a cool drink other than water and soda.
On entering, we were told that around 9:45 am, at the entrance to the festival, there would be a spirited opening involving Kvasir, God of Mead, and Thor (played by James Nelson-Lucas) greeting the arrival of the crowd, welcoming them to the festival and telling a story of Thor and his significance to the Viking world. They were pulled into the festival entrance by some of the men in the strong man competition as Kvasir and Thor rode a Viking ship recreation through the entrance. There was a sizable crowd for the opening, and they joined in the activity as they followed the Viking ship into the festival grounds.
From here we moved back to our trip around the festival grounds and walked past a VIP Area and headed toward the Holmgangustade Sports/Combat arena, which was across from the Celtic Norse encampment. The Sports/Combat arena would also be a popular stop for those coming to the festival, with bleachers on three sides of the arena for seating. Medieval fighting would be reenacted in several locations at the Viking Festival. The large arena would be a location for participants to show visitors how they battle and score hits to determine winners. Many of the participants were from the Medieval Fight Club from the SoCal LA based organization. For the sports portion, involving the International Highland Games Federation, which the arena hosted, the morning sessions involved the men participating in a chance to take part in competitions of strength, score points and attempt to qualify for the IHGF World Highland Games. These games will be held in Norway in 2025. We watched two of the events, the first the 45lb. stone throw (resembling the shot put in the Olympics) and the stone carry for distance and time involving carrying four stones of varying weight. These stones started with a 170 lb. stone and ended with a 280 lb. stone. Speaking with Joe Mass, one of the participants, he said it was definitely a tough competition that he had been training for and he wanted to return to the World Games as a participant. Later in the day, visitors could take part in competitions by purchasing tickets for the Log Toss or the Adult Fish Fling or the Battle Cry.
From here we next headed to Vapnhus Weapons Range where tickets purchased at the entrance could be used to try your hand at archery, axe throwing or spear throwing. Next to the Weapons Range were the various Viking encampments, all part of The Society of Creative Anachronism. This group began at Berkley, in 1966, as a group dedicated to the study of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, re-creating the feasts, costumes, and activities of that time period. This led to the creation of 20 different kingdoms individuals could pick from to join. Six of these kingdoms were represented at the Viking Festival. As we walked by the groups, we could see people in costume (or garb) from that time period, many working with tools and implements from period, along with the encampments for their group. The first group we saw was Red Hand (a reenactment group from the Norway Hall Community), next to Forge (making items from metal work forging). Across from them was a large Viking ship (Sleipnir), built by Tom Kottmeir and Ivar Schonmeyr. Behing the ship was the Wolves Av Odin. Across from them was Vesterfolk, then Drafn (a fighting reenactment unit in the SCA). Next to them was Saami with beautiful leather work goods for sale. The Medieval Fight Club was set up with a small area to show what their group portrays. The Wolf and Serpent was the final group, and we also visited with Jerry Adams and saw the lathe he had made following descriptions from medieval information. Adams demonstrated how it worked with foot and hand power. We also visited with the Brewing Monks of Croneburg and received a lesson in how they made their early examples of beer.
Back at the entrance was a series of photo booth opportunities with a small section of the front of a Viking ship or a large throne or a throne that looked a lot like the Game of Thrones throne made of swords. A donation to the Multiple Sclerosis Society (a group the Norway Club sponsors) was encouraged. We also spoke with the royalty of the Viking Festival – Viking Festival Queen Irene Faciones, Vista Valkyrie Princess Malia Lamaku, Vista Valkyrie Princess Denise DeGuzman, Vista Valkyrie Princess Cynthia Delgado and North County Celtic Teen Queen Maile Laaku.
The middle portion of the Viking Festival was made up of a large Dining Tent and the Songrbryggja Entertainers Stage where we spoke with True Thomas the Storyteller who was the MC for the day as he filled the crowd in with information about Viking traditions, life, folklore, jokes and introduced the various performers for the day that included Damekor, Silk Button Butchers, Highland Way, and Blindfold Monks. Highland Way had a tent nearby with CD’s available for purchase and information on a trip to Scotland they were hosting in August 2025.
Wandering the merchant’s tents, in the middle of the Viking Festival, we visited with numerous vendors selling an array of jewelry, leatherworks, drinking mugs, clothing, food items, information on Viking culture, information on Scottish culture, and much more. Listed below is some of the contact information about a few of the merchants as well as other groups at the Viking Festival. Shorebreak Honey is in Vista and produces honey for sale. For the breweries and meaderies simply Google the name of the brewery or meadery you’re interested in and this will take you to their business website. Stay in touch with the Vista Viking Festival to find out about next year’s date.
Contact Information:
Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum – www.agsem.org
Vista Viking Festival – www.vistavikingfestival.com
Gurkhas Rugby Club – www.gurkhasrugby.com
Drafn Fighting Unit – www.drafnwarband.org
Scottish Highland Games – www.SDHighlandGames.org
Highland Way Tour of Scotland 2025 – email fiona@isleinntours.com
Highland Way – www.highlandway.us
Tru Thomas the Storyteller – www.truethomas.com
Rinus Leatherworks – Rinus.Leatherworks@gmail.com
Viking Spirits – www.vikingspiritsusa.com
Shorebreak Honey – www.support@shorebreakhoney.com
Valkyrie Mailleworks – valkyriemailleworks@gmail.com
Medieval Fight Club – www.medievalfightclubla.com medievalfightclubla@gmail.com
Society for Creative Anachronism – www.scs.org
Bread and Cheese Eatery – www.breadandcheeseeatery.com
