Avaldsnes Viking Festival 2027: dates, tickets and how to get there
The Avaldsnes Viking Festival is held in early June at the Viking farm on Bukkøy, Karmøy, twenty minutes from Haugesund Airport on Norway's west coast. Avaldsnes was the seat of Harald Fairhair, Norway's first king, and the festival is the largest of its kind in western Norway, with more than 200 Vikings camping on the island.
Quick facts
To be announced- Dates
- Early June 2027, dates not announced
- Hours
- Not confirmed
- Where
- Avaldsnes Viking Farm, Bukkøy, Karmøy, Norway
- Nearest airport
- Haugesund Airport (HAU), about 20 min
- From Stavanger
- 1 h 30 min by car via the Boknafjord tunnel
- From Bergen
- 2 h 30 min by car
- Organizer
- Nordvegen History Centre, Avaldsnes
- Admission
- Not confirmed
- Payment
- Cards everywhere. Norway is close to cashless.
- Kids
- Yes. Archery, horseback riding and workshops during the festival.
- Dogs
- Not confirmed
- Camping
- Not confirmed
- Accessibility
- Not confirmed
- Language
- English spoken.
What happens
Avaldsnes is where the Norwegian kingdom began. The festival is held around the reconstructed Viking farm on the island of Bukkøy, a short walk from the Nordvegen History Centre and St Olav’s Church. Market, camp, staged fights, boat trips in a replica ship and a program of storytelling, music and workshops.
What visitors say
Reviewers describe Bukkøy as the setting that makes Avaldsnes: a quiet wooded island reached on foot from the history centre, with the farm buildings down by the water. During the festival it fills with more than 200 reenactors from across Europe, and visitors mention the fights, the storytellers, archery and horseback riding as the things they did rather than watched.
The reservation is about expectations on ordinary days. More than one reviewer found the Viking farm smaller and quieter than the organizer’s photos suggest, and the history centre gets better marks than the farm outside festival time. Boat trips to the farm from Haugesund run in summer and are reviewed well as a family outing.
Our take
Avaldsnes is the festival to pick if you are already on Norway’s west coast, and it pairs naturally with a Stavanger or Bergen trip. The combination of a real royal seat, a reconstructed farm on an island and a weekend of reenactors is hard to beat for atmosphere, and Haugesund Airport is twenty minutes away.
Go during the festival, not before or after it. And give the Nordvegen History Centre an hour; it is where the story of Harald Fairhair and the first kingdom is actually told.
Our take is based on visitor reviews, reenactor forums and the organizer’s own program, not on a visit. We say so because we think you should know.
Getting there
Haugesund Airport on Karmøy is twenty minutes away, with flights from Oslo and Bergen. From Stavanger, drive north through the Boknafjord tunnel, about an hour and a half. The site is signposted from Avaldsnes village; parking is at the history centre, and the farm is a walk of about a kilometer through the woods to Bukkøy.
Where to stay
Haugesund, fifteen minutes north, has the most hotels. Karmøy has campsites and cabins along the coast.
Sources
Visitor reviews on Tripadvisor, Fjord Norway, the organizer, and The Viking Herald.
Past editions
- June 4–7, 2026
Last checked 2026-09-05 against the organizer's website: Nordvegen History Centre, Avaldsnes. Dates can change; confirm before you travel. Back to Norway, near Stavanger or the full calendar.