Wigton Viking settlement's crafts festival attended by over 400 people

The Moorforge Viking Settlement is located at Gilcrux, near Wigton on land owned by local blacksmith David Watson, and hosted its second crafts festival between Saturday, May 4, and Monday, May 6. 

The settlement is also a popular destination for school trips and reenactment enthusiasts. 

The festival, which included over 20 craftspeople, showcased ancient techniques such as woodturning and tablet weaving. 

In addition, the festival saw a popular folk jam session which was held on the evening of Saturday, May 4.

Ash Harrison is one of the festival's organisers and expressed his delight at the event's successful return after its debut in 2023. 

He said: "It was really good, the pitch looked like an ancient village with all of these traditional style tents, old market stalls, and everyone was in traditional dress because we wanted it to look as authentic as possible.

"There was a great range of crafts from textiles to woodwork and they were all very interactive. 

"It is a rough estimate but we think had 400 to 500 people here over the weekend which was fantastic. There were also around 60 people in the longhouse for the folk music session and we can't wait to do it again. 

Moorforge Viking Settlement's Crafts Festival kicks off a summer that is set to be filled with Viking-themed events.

These include the Moorforge Folk Music Festival between July 5 and 6 and the Moorforge Althing Viking Festival between July 12 and 14. 

"In June we will have the Folk Music Festival and in July we will have the Althing, which is a Viking reenactment festival that focuses on combat," Ash said.

"The Althing festival will also have craftspeople there and will be on a similar scale to the crafts festival but will be really cool.

"It is more of a spectator event but there will also be interactive parts, especially for the kids who will be making a wooden shield wall which is always fun."