MYSTIC SEAPORT PRESENTS VIKING DAYS

Mystic — Mystic Seaport Museum will present Viking Days, a celebration of Viking culture, with a Viking village, craft demonstrations, live music, dramatic performances and boats on Saturday and Sunday.

The weekend comes as the museum has recently opened new exhibits featuring early Viking artifacts from Sweden and the controversial Vinland map.

“Vikings seem to be everywhere in popular culture today, yet very few of us know what it was like to live the life of a Viking,” said Arlene Marcionette, public programs project manager at the museum. “How did they accomplish basic activities like gathering food, cooking, sailing, and voyaging?”

Visitors will be able to walk through a Viking encampment, sample Scandinavian food, hear live music, and see a Nordic boat-building demonstration. There will be hands-on activities and games for children and adults throughout the day and a planetarium show on Viking navigation. Craft demonstrations will include woodworking, blacksmithing, Norse jewelry, and cooking. There will be demonstrations of Fjord horses and birds of prey and a Viking beard contest.

The reproduction Viking longship Draken Harald Hårfagre will be open for free tours.

Viking Days activities are included with regular museum admission. Food, beverages, planetarium shows, toy boat building and children’s crafts have an extra fee. A complete list and schedule of activities is at visit www.mysticseaport.org/ vikingdays.