The fifth annual Mead on Main-A Viking Festival set for Saturday in Festus will offer all the fun and activities held previous years, but they will be spread over a larger area, organizers said.
Festivities will be from noon to 9 p.m. behind Four Brothers Meadery, 124 E. Main St., in Festus, as usual, but activities also will be held on city property on the other side of South Second Street, which will be closed to vehicle traffic during the event.
“It’s a new layout,” said Dan Luck, a Four Brothers Mead owner. “We’re trying to utilize the grassy space of the city property on the south side of Second Street. The main stage for the music will be moved to that property.”
Admission to the festival is free.
Attendees are encouraged to dress in Viking garb while they watch Viking fighting and blacksmithing demonstrations; listen to live music and peruse vendor stands. Fire-belly dancers will perform, and local artists and food trucks will be on hand.
Luck said the festival will feature more than 60 vendors, many selling Viking-related items.
He said the festival draws thousands of attendees each year from around the St. Louis region and beyond.
“In general, the fall festival is a little bit less populated than the one we have in the spring,” Luck said. “I still expect we’ll get 5,000 people showing up.”
Four Brothers Meadery, which makes and sells mead, often called honey wine, received a grant from the Festus Tourism Commission to promote the festival.
“I want to thank the city of Festus and its Police Department for supporting us,” Luck said.
For more information, go to fourbrothersmead.com.