Oklahoma’s Viking Festival is This Weekend

Every year, way out in Eastern Oklahoma, a sleepy little town becomes the center of Viking culture for a weekend. This year, the Heavener Runestone Viking Festival takes place October 8-9, but it's not a throwback celebration to the Norse brutality you might be thinking of... It's a throwback to Oklahoma state history.

In 1923, the Heavener Runestone was discovered. A thousand-plus year old slab of rock with Norse writing on it. It was just the first of six found in that area of the state. Given Oklahoma's discovered Nordic heritage, an inland Viking Festival doesn't seem that weird.

It doesn't come without shenanigans though... Of the six stones found, three were determined to be fake. Two others are said to have been created by Native Americans. And the original Heavener Runestone is highly debated among experts. Pretty well split up the middle on whether it's actually a thousand year old rune, or just another modern copy.

Either way, it's a fun thing to do with the kids. Go watch some Viking fighting, eat the foods, make a shield, wear what can only be described as 'burlap underwear.' If anything, it's very unique.

Click here for the complete Heavener Runestone Viking Festival details.