EDGEWOOD, N.M. (KRQE) – Avast ye, mateys! The Pirate Viking Summer Festival is invading Edgewood for the fourth time. Whether you want a turkey leg and some mead or dress up and practice your “Yarr!”, this festival has you covered.
The festival was born out of the New Mexico Renaissance Celtic Festival back in 2018 says owner Eric Vigil. “We had to grow the audience,” Vigil says. Back in 2020, the first Pirate Viking Summer Festival was supposed to happen over a three-day weekend. “We want to do a multi-weekend event like other states have but in New Mexico, you have to build things,” adds Vigil.
Now that they have a few under their buckle, Vigil’s team is looking forward to a possible monthlong celebration that will incorporate the Renaissance Celtic Festival, Viking, pirate, and also a steampunk festival as well.
This year’s Pirate Viking Summer Festival will boast 10 food and drink vendors and dozens of craft merchants. If you’ve never tried mead and are curious, there will be plenty of opportunities to try the honey-based wine as well. “The whole premise behind mead is it was easier to ferment and keep and you can make plenty of it, as long as you had honey,” says Vigil.
It’s an event for the whole family and features a pirate quest that will take the participants around the entire festival. The festival will also feature out-of-town musical acts as well as local band The Tingley Beach Buccaneers, who just performed at the New Mexico Shakespeare Festival.
The Pirate Viking Summer Festival is happening August 19 and 20 at the Wildlife West Nature Park at 87 N Frontage Rd. in Edgewood, NM. Gates open at 10:00 a.m. on both days. Saturday festivities wrap up at 6:00 p.m. and the festival ends at 5:00 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $25 at the gate. There’s a $10 discount for seniors, active military, and veterans. Kids aged 17 and under are free with an adult. A portion of the ticket price will go towards the Wildlife West Nature Park Zoo.
