The seventh annual Mead on Main – A Viking Festival drew approximately 6,000 people to downtown Festus, more than organizer Dan Luck has ever seen.
Luck, an owner of Four Brothers Mead on Festus’ Main Street, said the higher turnout was likely due to the wonderful weather and unique offerings at this year’s festival.
The event, held on Oct. 3 behind the meadery, included Viking-themed entertainment, vendors, food and mead samplings.
“We had music going into the evening, which kept people hanging around,” Luck said. “Main Street has so much to offer, too. People would check out the festival, then go look at the other businesses on Main Street and then come back (to the festival). It seemed like a very successful day for everybody.”
About 50 vendors sold handcrafted wares at the festival, with many selling Viking-themed jewelry, leatherwork and artwork.
The St. Louis Legion of Honor staged demonstrations at the festival, with participants gearing up in medieval armor and battling in an arena.
The Mythic Sands troupe returned to the festival after a few years away, Luck said, performing belly and fire dancing routines.
“It drew in quite a crowd,” Luck said. “At their evening performance, the last one right around dusk, they introduced the fire. They’ve got a dance where they’ve got fire incorporated into the structure of the dance. It was really cool.”
A new vendor this year was the Scottish St. Andrew Society of St. Louis, a nonprofit focused on cultural interchange between Scotland and the St. Louis area. Luck said he had conversations with the society’s members about potentially bringing a version of Scotland’s Highland Games to Festus at a future event.
According to the country’s website, the Highland Games date back thousands of years, where competitors are challenged in feats of strength such as tug of war and tossing a caber, which is a long, heavy wooden pole that is tossed as a test of strength.
“It’s a large task to put on these festivals, but we would love to host a Scottish Games-themed event in Festus,” Luck said.
Four Brothers also puts on a Viking-themed festival each spring called Sigurblot, which, like Mead on Main, continues to draw thousands of people to Main Street, Luck said. He said Sigurblot is tentatively scheduled for April 10, 2027.
“I just want to thank everyone for coming out, for being part of it (Mead on Main),” Luck said. “I want to thank the city again for allowing us to have these festivals on their park space back there (behind the meadery). I just love the Festus community, and the Four Brothers community we’ve built here.”
