Tønsberg Viking Festival 2027: August, dates not announced
The Tønsberg Viking Festival is a free four-day festival on the harbor front in Tønsberg, Norway, held Thursday to Sunday in early August around the Saga Oseberg, a full-size replica of the Oseberg ship. It has run since 2015, and the organizer estimated 18,000 to 20,000 visitors in 2026, a record.
Quick facts
To be announced- Dates
- August 2027, dates not announced
- Hours
- 2026: Thursday market 19:00 to 21:00 with the opening show at 22:00; Friday and Saturday 11:00 to 20:00; Sunday 11:00 to 16:00.
- Where
- Vikingodden, Støperiet and the harbor front, Tønsberg, Norway
- Nearest airport
- Sandefjord Torp (TRF), about 30 min
- From Oslo
- 1 h 30 min by train on the Vestfold Line or car on the E18
- Organizer
- Tønsberg Vikingfestival
- Admission
- Free. No tickets for the market, the lectures or the shows. The Slottsfjell Museum, open during the festival, charges its own admission.
- Payment
- Not confirmed
- Kids
- Yes. Viking games for children at Lekeodden by Støperiet, archery, glima wrestling, and rowing in a Viking boat.
- Dogs
- Not confirmed
- Camping
- Not confirmed
- Accessibility
- The organizer says Vikingodden, the area in front of Støperiet and the harbor front are all accessible by wheelchair.
- Language
- The program is in Norwegian. Some lectures have been in English, and the market rules are published in English.
What happens
Tønsberg calls itself Norway’s oldest town, and the festival grew out of the Saga Oseberg, a full-size archaeological replica of the Oseberg ship built in public on the harbor front and completed in 2012. Since 2015 the town has gathered its Viking interest into one weekend in August, with the replica as the centerpiece.
The festival opens on Thursday evening with a free outdoor show on the quay by Vikingodden: music, dance, fire, and film projected on the Saga Oseberg’s sail. From Friday to Sunday the market runs on Vikingodden, with craft demonstrations (smithing, boatbuilding, textiles, runes), live music from Folket Bortafor Nordavinden and Musicantus, and Viking games and glima wrestling for children and adults. Visitors can row a Viking boat or the Kristina ship several times a day. In the Støperiet building there is a full lecture program by archaeologists and researchers, on ship burials, the Gokstad and Oseberg finds and Tønsberg as a Viking Age trading place. Traders must sell goods with an origin in the Viking Age, in Viking dress and with Viking-style stalls, and plastic is not allowed.
What visitors say
Few written reviews exist in English, so the numbers are the best guide. The organizer started counting during the pandemic: 3,800 visitors in 2020, 4,600 in 2021, 7,000 in 2022, then about 18,000 in both 2023 and 2024. In 2026 the festival director told NRK that 18,000 to 20,000 people had been on Vikingodden, and put the record down to media coverage, good weather and people getting used to the festival. The Viking Herald’s report on the tenth festival in 2024 described a weekend of storms, mud, combat and spectacular shows, with experts from abroad on the lecture program. Rowing a Viking boat and sailing the Kristina ship are among the most popular activities, according to the local paper Byavisa Tønsberg, which also mentions free glima classes led by the Swedish champion Lars Magnar Enoksen.
Our take
This is the Oslofjord’s big free Viking weekend, and the only one in Norway where you can row a Viking boat in the harbor of a real town and then walk to a lecture by the archaeologists working on the ship graves down the road. It is a town festival rather than a fenced reenactment camp, so expect it to feel busy and open, with restaurants and shops joining in. Because nothing is ticketed, you can drop in for an afternoon without planning. Come on Thursday evening for the opening show on the sail of the Saga Oseberg, and check the lecture program if you want more than the market. In odd years the Midgard Viking Festival at Borre is a month earlier and twenty minutes away; Midgardsblot at Borre comes later in August.
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
Tønsberg station is under ten minutes’ walk from the harbor and Vikingodden, with trains on the Vestfold Line from Oslo in about an hour and a half. Sandefjord Torp Airport is half an hour away by bus, train or taxi. There is no festival parking; the organizer points to the public car parks at Stjerneplassen, Oseberg and around Nedre Langgate, and recommends public transport. Guest harbor berths are available if you come by boat.
Combine with
The burial mounds and the Midgard Viking Centre at Borre, twenty minutes north, with the Midgard Viking Festival in odd-year Julys and Borrekaupangen in even years. Midgardsblot at Borre in the second half of August. The Slottsfjell Museum above the town is open during the festival.
Sources
The organizer’s 2026 program, 2025 program, practical information and market rules, and the 2024 announcement. The English program on Visit Vestfold. Attendance from NRK Vestfold og Telemark (2026) and The Viking Herald (2024). Local coverage in Byavisa Tønsberg (2026).
Past editions
- August 6–9, 2026 · Festival director Ole Harald Flåten estimated 18,000 to 20,000 people on Vikingodden over the weekend, a record, according to NRK.
- August 7–10, 2025
- August 8–11, 2024 · The tenth festival. The organizer counted 18,093 visitors.
Last checked 2026-10-14 against the organizer's website: Tønsberg Vikingfestival. Dates can change; confirm before you travel. Back to Norway, near Oslo or the full calendar.