Viking Fest

This is a nice family event, just outside of Indianapolis. They normally hold it at Anson Acres Park, annually, over a weekend in late April/ early May. It has tons of space and has a nice set up.Tickets are $5 per person, with kids 2 and under free. Tickets can be purchased on line or at the gate with cash or card. Parking here is easy, but you may have to walk a bit to get to the gate. I had about a half to quarter mile walk.They have inflatables available for the littles to play, but they were uncomfortably packed. My littles still had a good time playing on them though. The festival is full of food and drink vendors as well as merchandise vendors. You can purchase live action role play (LARP) swords, horns, furs, cups, soap, honey, turkey legs, root beer, lemon or strawberry shake-ups, burgers and fries. There is a stage where they have a Celtic band playing as well as other acts like belly dancers and speakers. They also have a ring in the center of the field where they host LARP battles, next to the field is a fire that was pretty much blowing annoying smoke while I was there.Near the food vendors and to the side of the stage, there are picnic tables under a shelter and tall tables placed in the open field.There are a few spaces that are designated for kids to learn how to sword fight with the LARP swords and learn how to use them.A little walk from the vendors and demo area is what they call Viking village. I think the role players actually live there over the weekend. The have a falcon and hawk handler back there and you will see them doing stuff like actually making dinner and marching to the LARP arena on the other side of the park.The park has a restroom facility, but the organizers have also added some port-a-pottys around the park for visitors. It was a good number because I did not have to wait to use them.For those of you that ate your Wheaties, the organizers host a keg throwing contest for kids, women and men. They use different sizes for different groups with the kids throwing a skillet and the men throwing a full size keg. There is also opportunities for adults to participate in archery and axe throwing.If you do visit, I will recommend a couple of things. First, get there early. You will get a better parking spot and have less of a crowd. Second bring one of those bag chairs. Seating here is limited and goes very quickly. Also, there are refills available on the shake-ups that you can get for almost half the price of the original purchase. Make sure to get your money's worth. Lastly, be aware that the merchandise you can be here is nice, but can be very expensive. I spent almost a $100 for a horn cup with a belt holster for one of my littles. This was a nice day and something different for my littles and I to do. The littles and I stayed here most of the day and the only thing that got us to leave was that they had to shut down due to lightning strikes nearby. I highly recommend checking out this event. At $5 per person, with free parking, it is a deal. You will definitely have lots of fun here. I cannot wait until next year.