Largs Viking Festival 2013

Just like the Battle itself, the Festival has it's own history

The Largs Viking Festival started in the 1980s, as a small-scale celebration of the Battle of Largs. The Battle is also commemorated by the monument popularly known as The Pencil.  However, it has grown and grown and has become recognised internationally across the world.

There are numerous references to Vikings in the town of Largs including street names, the amusement arcade and the Viking who stands outside the Main Street chippie. There is also more serious commemoration such as the Vikingar, which is an interactive exhibit with storytellers telling Viking tales and myths and the yearly Håkon Håkonsson Lecture (which was inaugurated by the late Magnus Magnusson in 1980).

The Festival is organised by a dedicated committee who have, in the past, being responsible for many events including RAF air displays, entertainment, the creation of the Viking Village, skate competitions and fun fairs for young people, continental food markets, the opening parade for community groups, and of course the ultimate finale being the Party at the Pencil where Viking re-enactors take to the field in front of the Pencil and recreate the Battle of Largs in all its splendour, followed by a ceremonial boat-burning and a firework display all courtesy of North Ayrshire Council.

In 2008, Prof. Magnus Fladmark (of Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen) became the patron of the Festival following the death of Magnus Magnusson KBE.