Avast! Pirate Viking Summer Festival sets sail for Edgewood
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Weigh the anchors and draw your battleaxes for the sixth annual Pirate Viking Summer Festival, setting sail on Saturday, Aug. 23, and Sunday, Aug. 24, in Edgewood at Wildlife West Nature Park.
Eric Vigil started the festival seven years ago, with a break during COVID.
鈥淭he atmosphere is like you really are stepping back into time,鈥� Paula Vigil, festival administrator, said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like your other personalities come out, and you just have a fantastic time.鈥�
Eric Vigil, creator and director of the festival, said the aim is to educate kids beyond what they are seeing on their phones. The festival is free for those 17 and under.
鈥淲e can encourage them to come out and become entertainers, vendors, crafters, fair goers, even workers (and) crew members,鈥� Eric Vigil said.
Eric Vigil said whether people are into belly dancing, comedy, live music, fire shows or historical tales, 鈥渢here鈥檚 always something thrilling and happening every hour across our realm.鈥�
Eventgoers are also encouraged to dress up for the event.
Paula Vigil said she sometimes dresses as a female pirate to show children that women also sailed the high seas.
鈥淒id you know there were lady pirates?鈥� Paula Vigil said. 鈥淭hey look at me and then I start explaining.鈥�
Eric Vigil said while not everyone dresses up, some do and it helps immerse visitors.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that we require or anything, but it鈥檚 people want to dress up. I mean, shoot, you don鈥檛 want to only have to dress up during Halloween,鈥� Eric Vigil. 鈥淵ou want to dress up and be a character, be something different and it鈥檚 a way to just get away from life and step back in time.鈥�
One of the best parts of the festival is hearing everyone鈥檚 remarks, Eric Vigil said.
鈥淵ou can hear them walking out, and they鈥檙e talking about how it felt like (they were) back in time ...,鈥� Eric Vigil said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 one of the things that we strive for.鈥�
This year鈥檚 festival introduces a new feature: an adult-only night on Saturday.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing a sexiest Viking contest during our adult show where men and women can come up and present themselves,鈥� Eric Vigil. 鈥淭he guys throw their shirts off and show off their hairy chests, or whatever the case is. The girls come in and they want to show off their outfits they built and stuff.鈥�
The festival is filled with vendors selling wares.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the neatest thing about our festivals, we have a custom hatmaker,鈥� Eric Vigil said. 鈥淲e have a custom boot maker, all from New Mexico, which is amazing they鈥檙e here.鈥�
The vendors are mostly local, with a handful from out of state, Eric Vigil said. He finds that the festival helps local vendors grow.
鈥淲e take our local vendors, and we help train them to be better at doing large events like this,鈥� Eric Vigil said. 鈥淎 lot of times they鈥檒l come in and they don鈥檛 have a clue of how they鈥檙e going to set up or they鈥檙e going to sell their product or their craft, but they know they want to do it.鈥�
Vendor or attendee, Eric Vigil said he wants everyone to come out and enjoy the festival.
鈥淚 hope anybody and everybody can come out and play pirate and Viking,鈥� he said.
