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Avast! Pirate Viking Summer Festival sets sail for Edgewood
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Weigh the anchors and draw your battleaxes for the sixth annual Pirate Viking Summer Festival, setting sail on Saturday, Aug. 23, and Sunday, Aug. 24, in Edgewood at Wildlife West Nature Park.
Eric Vigil started the festival seven years ago, with a break during COVID.
“The atmosphere is like you really are stepping back into time,” Paula Vigil, festival administrator, said.
“It’s like your other personalities come out, and you just have a fantastic time.”
Eric Vigil, creator and director of the festival, said the aim is to educate kids beyond what they are seeing on their phones. The festival is free for those 17 and under.
“We can encourage them to come out and become entertainers, vendors, crafters, fair goers, even workers (and) crew members,” Eric Vigil said.
Eric Vigil said whether people are into belly dancing, comedy, live music, fire shows or historical tales, “there’s always something thrilling and happening every hour across our realm.”
Eventgoers are also encouraged to dress up for the event.
Paula Vigil said she sometimes dresses as a female pirate to show children that women also sailed the high seas.
“Did you know there were lady pirates?” Paula Vigil said. “They look at me and then I start explaining.”
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Eric Vigil said while not everyone dresses up, some do and it helps immerse visitors.
“It’s not something that we require or anything, but it’s people want to dress up. I mean, shoot, you don’t want to only have to dress up during Halloween,” Eric Vigil. “You want to dress up and be a character, be something different and it’s a way to just get away from life and step back in time.”
One of the best parts of the festival is hearing everyone’s remarks, Eric Vigil said.
“You can hear them walking out, and they’re talking about how it felt like (they were) back in time ...,” Eric Vigil said. “And that’s one of the things that we strive for.”
This year’s festival introduces a new feature: an adult-only night on Saturday.
“We’re doing a sexiest Viking contest during our adult show where men and women can come up and present themselves,” Eric Vigil. “The guys throw their shirts off and show off their hairy chests, or whatever the case is. The girls come in and they want to show off their outfits they built and stuff.”
The festival is filled with vendors selling wares.
“That’s the neatest thing about our festivals, we have a custom hatmaker,” Eric Vigil said. “We have a custom boot maker, all from New Mexico, which is amazing they’re here.”
The vendors are mostly local, with a handful from out of state, Eric Vigil said. He finds that the festival helps local vendors grow.
“We take our local vendors, and we help train them to be better at doing large events like this,” Eric Vigil said. “A lot of times they’ll come in and they don’t have a clue of how they’re going to set up or they’re going to sell their product or their craft, but they know they want to do it.”
Vendor or attendee, Eric Vigil said he wants everyone to come out and enjoy the festival.
“I hope anybody and everybody can come out and play pirate and Viking,” he said.
