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Medieval week

Event in Visby on Gotland  (Sweden)    1517

Update: August 13, 2026

I have been going to Castlefest every year since 2008 and over time I discovered that there was a big medieval event of eight days in the medieval town of Visby on the island of Gotland in Sweden at almost the same time.
After Castlefest 2023 I've decided not to go to Castlefest in 2024 but to the Medieval Week in Visby! I enjoyed it so much that I went to Medieval Week in Visby again in 2025 and in 2026!
Visby is a medieval town with a city wall from the fourteenth century that is still largely intact. In the old Visby itself there are at least 200 stone buildings that date back to the Middle Ages, giving the town a unique medieval atmosphere.
 (Sources:  7 Dagar docu,  Falck page 10-11,  Jonsson page 98-99  and  Unesco.org).



South Square at the South Gate

The Medieval Week, Medeltids Veckan in Swedish, has been held here since 1984 and now attracts between 50,000 and 100,000 visitors! The original idea behind it was; dress yourself as people did 700 years ago and take on the role of a person from that time for a week; a kind of historical Re-enactment. The Medieval Week always falls in week 32 (in August) starting on a Sunday until the following Sunday; that was in 2024 from August 4 to 11, in 2025 from August 3 to 10 and in 2026 from August 2 to 9.
Hundreds of events have been organized throughout Visby; medieval music, troubadours, theater, parades, archery, workshops to make your own medieval shoes and I also saw a witchcraft workshop...
On Sunday August 4, 2024 / August 3, 2025 / August 2, 2026, people had gathered at the South Square in Visby for the opening of the Medeltids Veckan. After the opening, people dressed in historical clothing paraded to the North side of the city, where the market and tournament grounds were. This parade attracted many spectators.  (photo's on the left and above).
(Sources:  7 Dagar docu,  Jonsson page 98-99,  MedeltidsVeckan.se,  MittVisby.se,  Scan­magazine.co.uk  and YouTube:  Drakeloo 22 min.,  Jan Einar Eriksson 15 min.,  Island of Gotland 3 min.)


The opening day of the Medieval Week on Sunday ended in the evening in 2024, 2025 and 2026 with a free introduction (in Swedish) to the many different events that could be expected that week in the arena from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
After this they went to the beach where archers shot flaming arrows into the sea. Inquiry with the organization about the significance of this event taught me that they have been doing this for a long time at the opening of the Medieval Week. Nothing could be said about its origin or meaning; it is an aesthetically beautiful event where the archers can demonstrate their skills in a safe way. It looked very beautiful indeed!
(Fire arrows on YouTube: Dan Andreasson, 2:33 min.)




In the park in the north-west within the city walls of Visby was the market and a food area; called the food court. The market was smaller in size than what we are used to at Castlefest today but much larger than the market at the Runeheim festival in Appeltern.
There were stalls with medieval clothing, weapons, armor, drinking horns, leather bags in all sizes, wood carvings, jewelry, statues; practically everything was oriented towards the Middle Ages and of good quality! I came across this YouTube video in which the author Octavia Randolph shows parts of the market and food court.



At the food court there was a small stage called "Forum Vulgaris" where bands performed. This was a separate part of the market; the food stalls were arranged in a circle around some covered tables and benches  (see photo on the left).
Here you could enjoy pancakes, pizzas, wedges and wraps with falafel, for example. I found the choice for vegetarians a bit poor. In 2024 and 2025 I enjoyed a tasty falafel wrap, but this stall was missing in 2026. In 2026 there was only one stall where you could buy falafel, but you could only pay with Swish; for which you need a Swedish bank account. At Serwa's eatery at the food court, vegetarians could choose from sauerkraut, spinach or salmon bread dumplings, very tasty! You could also choose a vegetarian pancake elsewhere. It was better not to go to the food court for vegetarian food, it was better to go to one of these restaurants in Visby or elsewhere on Gotland. The organization of the Medieval Week apparently does not care much for vegetarians, as a vegetarian it is better to visit a cozy restaurant in the medieval town of Visby such as the Crêperie & logi or Lahori Zaiqa and then return to the market area with the food court.
The event area is larger than the market place and foodcourt; Visby's entire old town is the event site! In several restaurants in Visby, such as Kapitelhusgarden, you could enjoy authentic, medieval-inspired dishes in a medieval atmosphere (also vegetarian). Here you had to book well in advance otherwise it would be fully booked!
In old Visby we encountered many people in medieval dress, and of course, there were also plenty of people in their everyday clothes. Visby had the effect of extending the atmosphere of the Medieval Week to the entire medieval town!


Planning and costs

As an entrance fee for the Medeltids Veckan I paid in 2024 689 SEK (around 70 euros) for eight days and in 2025 also 689 SEK (now ±62 euro). For 2026, I had an early bird discount and paid 544 SEK (in December 2025 that was €51,-).
But you can also buy entrance tickets for 4 days or for 1 day. This gave you access to, among other things, the market area and the food court as well as various locations spread throughout Visby. However, since 2026, this appears to apply only to the market area and the food court; the other locations where a wristband was previously required are now freely accessible without a wristband or have their own admission fee. Therefore, it is better to buy a wristband for one day when you are in Visby if you wish to visit the market and the food court.
What was very useful is that you could create an account on the website of the Medeltids Veckan and tick everything you wanted to do and see in the program. This will then be included in your personal program so that you don't miss anything and keep an overview of what appealed to you in the program. You could put every workshop, lecture, theater performance, storyteller, performance in your own personal overview and easily find it back. Both the things that were included in the entrance fee and the things for which you had to pay extra. With your festival wristband, you could attend free performances and concerts at smaller venues such as the Forum Vulgaris and the Forum Kapitulum  (at the kapitel­hus­garden.se).
You had to pay extra for workshops, lectures, theater performances and concerts. I would have preferred to pay a bit more for the entire event and be able to go everywhere without extra costs.
Some things were already fully booked on the first Sunday, such as the witchcraft workshops and the band Stormfrun (Storm Lady) that gave two performances on Friday August 9, 2024. So you had to start looking at the program in time! The information on the website wasn't always correct or complete. For example, we discovered that a particular lecture (in 2025 and again in 2026) was being given in English, while the website only had information in Swedish, so we assumed the lecture would also be in Swedish. And information about how to book was missing at one other event, and this event was suddenly fully booked... how?
The program showed at a glance whether you could visit something without extra costs or whether you had to buy an extra entrance ticket. If you wanted to see a fire show by TRiX, for example, you would easily spend 25 euros, but on Wednesday evening TRiX gave a free fire show near the city wall of Visby.
Some people thought the Medeltids Veckan was becoming too commercial, so there's an alternative program on imtv.se. You could see the details of this alternative program on Fakebook, which I don't use on principle.



Fire show and tournament

The fire show on Wednesday evening was a popular and large event, free and open to everyone, in the park outside the city wall of Visby. People gathered on the field at the fire show during the afternoon and by 20:00 it was already quite full, it is estimated that between 5000 and 7000 people came to the fire show (see photo on the left); the fire show started at 22:00. It was impressive how the previously completely dark mass of people lit up when everyone turned on the flashlight on their mobile phone (photo on the leftside).
During the fire show people juggled with various torches, fireballs and jumped rope with burning ropes. People even set each other on fire!
There wasn't much difference between the 2024 and 2025 shows. I was closer this time, about three-quarters of the way away, but my view was often impaired by bright lights on the floor surrounding the show area. When I watched the 2026 fire show on YouTube afterwards, I recognized practically everything from previous years. Once you've seen this fire show, shows from a year later don't add much. However, you definitely have to experience it at least once!
(Fire show on YouTube: Dan Andersson 2025, 85 min.  &  Dan Andreasson 2026, 40 min.)



The medieval tournament was also popular and continued after the Medeltids Veckan, for which you paid between 308 and 427 SEK; between 25 and 36 euros!
Here they recreate medieval tournaments that had to train knights for possible battles. They have made serious work of this and these tournaments attracted a lot of audience. However, we were not that interested in this, I'm not that into tournaments myself and a large part of the show is in Swedish so you also miss a few things.



The Battle of Visby 1361

Every three years a re-enactment of the Battle of Visby is held. In 2025 this was on Saturday, August 9th. To watch this spectacle you needed an event wristband and a 195 SEK admission fee.
The original battle took place in July 1361, when Danish King Voldemort, ehh, Valdemar IV and his troops attacked Visby. Approximately 1,800 Gotlanders died in the Battle of Visby, a significant number for that time. A year later, Danish King Valdemar claimed Gotland as his domain, but in 1369 the Swedish King Albert reclaimed it. Gotland had long been disputed territory between Denmark and Sweden, but since 1645 it has belonged continuously to Sweden.
So, during the Medeltids Veckan of 2025 a battle was reconstructed in which the Danes won over the Gotlanders... a bit masochistic.

The Battle of Visby attracted a large audience. After an introduction we saw the Gotlandic troops approaching from the tent camp on the right. From the left we saw women and children fleeing towards the Gotlandic troops. When the Danish troops appeared a confrontation with the Gotlandic troops ensued.
The Danes also had cavalry, which charged right in front of us. This was an impressive sight in real life; when several horses come straight at you, with armed men holding lances, it's like a tank coming straight at you.
We saw a knight on horseback ride straight into a group of infantry with a lance, his lance breaking off on a shield. The Danish cavalry also moved around the foot soldiers to the rear with archers, who then made their escape. We saw the first "casualties" fall before our eyes. This re-enactment of the Battle of Visby was based as closely as possible on historical research.
It was said that people from all over the world had come to participate in this reenactment of the Battle of Visby, people from Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Great Britain, Iceland, the United States, Bulgaria, and Ukraine, among others. These people also participated in this re-enactment three years ago, but it was said that some of the Ukrainians were not there this year; they had died in the current war in Ukraine. That really hit us.
(Consulted sources:  v.Essen Pages 125-126, 139-140, 147, 155, 168,  Neijman & Jensen Pages 60-61, 140-143,  Battle of Wisby.com,  Historiska.se,  YouTube:  2025 Reënactment 13:44 min  &  23:22 min,  Timeline docu 46 min.,  Volovecto.com  & Wikipedia).



Mångfaldsparaden / The diversity parade

More important than a battle like the one above is, of course, love; the theme of the Medieval Week of 2026!
I spoke to someone who has been participating in the mångfaldsparad for a very long time; she told me that ten years ago, the organizers of Medieval Week distanced themselves from this parade, afraid of sticking their necks out and losing their credibility with the government. The mångfaldsparad has been organized during Medieval Week for at least ten years, yet I have never seen it in the program in previous years. This year there were supposed to be multiple parades during Medieval Week, yet only today's parade from Tuesday, August 4, 2026, could be found in the program.
Fortunately, we are slowly but surely seeing a somewhat broader acceptance of the diversity in the love lives of diverse people!


Workshop Finding the Witch's Way

During the medieval week, you could attend many workshops that were fully booked quite quickly, such as making your own medieval shoes, making your own straw hat, making a historically inspired bag, making a traditional bow, stone carving, silversmithing, medieval cooking, a workshop on historical witch's brews, and the Finding the Witch's Way workshop.
(See also on YouTube: Bronwyn Emma, 8 min.)
Most workshops were in Swedish, but the Finding the Witch's Way workshop was in English.
The Finding the Witch's Way workshop was unfortunately cancelled in 2024. The witches workshop, which was offered on several days, was fully booked quite quickly in 2025. Fortunately, I had booked it weeks in advance. The workshop cost was only 50 SEK (± € 5,-), and the witchcraft theme was clearly very appealing. The workshop was indeed about finding your way: where do you want to go, what's holding you back, how does your energy flow? The approach focused on both the mind and the body; after all, the energy of your feelings and emotions manifests in your body, so you can focus your attention there as well. During the workshop, we used guided visualizations and physical representations, among other things. The workshop brought up emotions in most people. The workshop formed the first steps of this holistic approach, which you could continue with the information described in Doris C. Rusch's book.
 (See also: Finding the Witch's Way - Doris C. Rusch)

Forum Vulgaris  &  Forum Kapitulum

If you prepared well, you could see a lot of things for which you would have to pay extra in one case for free at another time! That's how I discovered that Canardus Horribilis and TRiX were also free to see at the Forum Vulgaris at the foodcourt and Canardus Horribilis also at the Forum Kapitulum. The program of the Forum Kapitulum was nowhere to be found and the program of the Forum Vulgaris was difficult to find on the website of MedeltidsVeckan.se.
You could find most bands by filtering on concerts, the bands that performed at the Forum Vulgaris only became visible when you clicked on more info at the item Forum Vulgaris in the program. The performances at the Forum Vulgaris were somewhat shorter (maximum one hour) and because the stages were a bit smaller, the bands were less able to perform to their full potential. From 2026, the Forum Kapitulum will no longer be accessible with a festival wristband; you are now required to pay a separate admission fee to enter (unless you have reserved for a dinner).
Furthermore, it was an obstacle that the Medeltids Veckan program on the website was only in Swedish and the translation programs had some difficulty with this.


The concerts

During this event there were also bands performing, partly included in the entrance fee, partly to be paid extra.
For example, if you want to attend concerts (bands, choirs) in the ruined churches such as Canardus Horribilis,  Daj Ognia,  Koenix,  Poeta Magica,  Vargland  and  Volund,  you needed a festival band and you paid between 10 and 17 euros per band per person extra.
In 2026, however, I noticed that festival wristbands were no longer being checked at the bands' performances.
The paid performances took place in the various ruined churches that Visby has. After the reformation, several churches were no longer used and fell into disrepair. During the Medeltids Veckan they served as a stage for various, sometimes pagan bands. The dilapidated state, the lack of windows, an open roof and the acoustics gave a great atmosphere! This was definitely worth paying extra for!



Volund

I went to a performance of Volund in the St. Nicolai church ruins on Monday August 5th, 2024. It is a musical drama about the black­smith Volund, based on a picture stone from the year 750 found on Gotland. Eva Sjöstrand wrote the lyrics based on this picture stone to the music of Jan Ekedahl and later published the story based on this picture stone together with stories based on other picture stones found on Gotland in the booklet A Gotlandic Edda  (See  Sjöstrand P.30-39 & 118).
The booklet was for sale in St.Nicolai after the performance for 200 SEK, unfortunately I only had 160 SEK cash with me, but I still got the booklet for that amount! Great!
 (Watch the Volund 2024 performance on YouTube).


Viking choir Valkyrie

On Monday August 4, 2025, we went to a performance by the Viking choir Valkyrie at the St. Lars church ruins (199 SEK). This choir performed passionately and powerfully, as befits a Viking choir, mainly Swedish songs and a few English songs.
Normally I wouldn't go to a choir myself, but my traveling companion Celinda, who is also a choir conductor, was eager to see this one. Celinda described the choir's accompaniment as professional, and the choir had a strong Viking feel with rousing shouts; some singers sounded more professional than others; all in all, strong female voices that reminded her somewhat of Värtinä. I certainly enjoyed this choir as well and immediately (well, in june 2026) bought tickets for their performance during Medieval Week on August 4 in 2026!



We noticed during their performance on August 4, 2026, in the St. Nicolai church ruins that they had grown! Whereas last year we noted that one singer sounded more professional than the other, this year everyone sounded great! The performance this year leaned a bit more towards a musical, with the songs being introduced and narrated. Six heroes took a center stage in this performance; their stories were introduced and sung, and a candle was lit for each hero in a Viking boat, so that at the end of the performance they could take all the heroes along in the Viking boat to Valhalla. Once again, a great show!


Canardus Horribilis

Tuesday August 6th, 2024, we went to a concert of Canardus Horribilis together with Starur (149 SEK) and later Canardus Horribilis could be heard again with a free entrance performance at the Forum Kapitulum (kapitel­hus­garden.se) and we found out that Canardus Horribilis could also be seen for free at the Forum Vulgaris at the Food court.
However, these free performances were on a small stage which limited some shows somewhat. The paid performances in a church ruin had a lot of added value so I can highly recommend listening to the bands in a church ruin; the bands perform to their full potential much more there! On August 3, 2026 I went to the concert of Canardus Horribilis and Starur again (they didn't perform in Visby in 2025).
They beautifully performed the Swedish song Midsommar, which I had come to know in the version of Daj Ognia, which I like just a little bit better. One song started as a nod to a song by Abba, we heard a song to the tune of Eye of Tiger and in another song (I heard in 2024) I thought I recognized The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe! Canardus Horribilis brought exciting and varied music! Unfortunately they didn't have any CDs with them, so I'd tried to order them via their website. (hmm no luck).
You can also find Canardus Horribilis at: YouTube.


Poeta Magica

Wednesday August 7th, 2024, we visited a concert of Poeta Magica who just like the previous band also performed in the St.Lars church ruin. The band brings Nordic Pagan Folk and sang in Swedish as well as some songs in English. They sounded great so I immediately bought some CDs of them. These CDs can be listened to in their entirety on their website.
At home I ordered some more of their CD's at Discogs.com!
On Thursday August 7, 2025, and on Thursday August 6, 2026, I went again to a concert of Poeta Magica, this time in the Helge And church ruins (2025) and the St.Lars church ruin (2026) again.
By then I had become somewhat familiar with their music, so I was familiar with several of the songs they performed. Guest singer Saga Starur was once again fantastic, and the Poeta Magica musicians played a variety of instruments (including a Nyckelharpa, Celtic harp, something resembling a Moroccan oud, Guzheng, etc.) masterfully! If you have the chance to see Poeta Magica live, I highly recommend it!

Koenix

On Thursday August 8th, 2024, we attended a concert by Koenix in the tournament arena. Apparently a large audience was expected, but the arena was only half full; still a fairly large and very enthusiastic audience! For this band we also had to pay an additional 199 SEK  (±€17,35)  per person. The performance started off great with four band members who entered the stage in animal like costumes with light-up eyes. Later dancing elves also appeared on stage. After a few songs the (warm) costumes came off, in the intros to the energetic songs they spoke of fantasy and magic, which we do not find on TV or online, but do find at events like this, where like-minded people meet. Of course I bought a few of their CDs after their concert.
I went again to a concert of Koenix on Monday August 4, 2025, this time in the ruins of St. Nicholas Church.
We also paid 199 SEK per person. The show was similar to last year's. They started in animal costumes that later came off, and we saw elves and other characters during the show. They created beautiful fire effects, including those from the bagpipes and guitars. The music was fantastic again, the only downside being that everything was too loud. As a result, the vocals and music were distorted because it was too loud and many people were wearing earplugs. So we'll just skip this band in 2026.

Vargland

On Tuesday, August 4, 2026, Vargland performed at the Wisby Hof near the South squere. The Wisby Hof is built against the city wall and the band performed in a tower of the city wall. The stage was inside the tower, and the venue was a covered space built against the city wall.
We were completely unfamiliar with this band, and Vargland turned out to be a very pleasant surprise! Vargland describes their music as folk music with modern pop and rock, featuring songs about, among otherss; dancing with a wolf, a drinking song, Ragnarök, and a song titled "I häxornas spår," which means "In the trail of the witches." The music sounded amazing, and the singer had a unique, raw, and fantastic voice! The combination of a male and female singer created a beautiful dynamic and varied songs. We can therefore wholeheartedly recommend this band!
You'll find more about Vargland on Spotify and YouTube.

Daj Ognia

On Friday 9th of August, 2024, we went to a concert by Daj Ognia (Polish, means "give fire"). We had already seen them perform somewhere in the wild on the marketarea and on the Forum Vulgaris, where they sounded great! We were curious to see how this band would sound in a ruined church, and were willing to pay the extra entrance fee of 199 SEK  (±€17,35)  for that. Daj Ognia turned out to be absolutely fantastic and really reached their potential in the St.Nicolai ruin church! They played a wide variety of instruments, including a Viking helmet, which gave the different songs their own atmosphere. At one point they even got most of the people out of their seats to dance in the church with their enthusiasm and captivating music! During the last song, lead singer Anna Sitko came off the stage and led the audience in a polonaise through the church!
For us, Daj Ognia was the highlight of the bands we saw at Medeltids Veckan!!!
Daj Ognia started in 2018 and has released two albums, the first in 2020 and the second in 2023, which I of course bought both from the band! Their first CD; Wykrot, has been in my CD player for weeks!



Daj Ognia on YouTube

We visited Daj Ognia again in 2025, both their unamplified performances in the market area of the Medeltids Veckan and later their amplified performance in the ruins of St. Nicholas Church on August 8, 2025. This year, Daj Ognia performed both familiar and new songs. They played an interesting variety of instruments, as you can see under the photos alongside. With these they created wonderful, varied, and very captivating music! For me, Daj Ognia was once again the absolute highlight of the Medeltids Veckan this year!
So for 2026, I already have tickets for two of their concerts (August 7 and 8) and for their singing workshop on August 6!
(About Daj Ognia: Celtcast.com,  EtnoKrakow.pl,  Polskieradio.pl,  Spotify,  YouTube)



Daj Ognia op YouTube

Singing Workshop

On Thursday, August 6, 2026, we attended a singing workshop led by Anna Sitko. Normally, I do not sing in public, although actually only during annual festival celebrations. However, my travel companion Celinda from CreaMundi conducts choirs, among other things, and always enjoys broadening her horizons. Since my singing abilities sound best in the bathroom, I could certainly use a singing workshop myself.
About 25 people showed up for the workshop, ranging from people with zero singing experience like me to those with a lot of experience and skill like my travel companion Celinda, and everything in between. After doing some exercises to loosen up a bit, we started the workshop, which featured Polish and Ukrainian songs. That was actually quite challenging, but it was clear that Anna Sitko had a lot of experience and patience with teaching. This workshop has only increased my respect for Anna Sitko's singing skills and professionalism! It was a wonderful and educational experience for me as well as for my travel com­pa­nion Celinda!

The Daj Ognia 2026 concerts in Visby

On Friday, August 7, 2026, Daj Ognia performed in the St.Lars church ruins and on Saturday, August 8, 2026, in the St.Nicolai church ruins in Visby.
The Daj Ognia concert on Friday, August 7, 2026, in the St.Lars church ruins was practically completely full, and the St.Nicolai church ruins were also very well filled with public the following day! During both performances, people took to the dance floor after just a few songs! I hadn't experienced that with the other bands whose concerts I had attended this year! This time, in addition to well-known songs, they also performed new songs that I hadn't heard before. From a conversation with one of the band members, I understood that the band members are musically trained and have also learned to play various instruments autodidactically, such as Agnieszka Oramus playing the Persian Santur. Her thorough training has undoubtedly translated into her new skills with the Santur, because it sounded incredibly good!
Wit Rzepecki was also amazing on all the instruments he played, such as the strakharpa and especially the bagpipes! It is impressive what that man manages to get out of the bagpipes! Michal Biel was fantastic on the percussion! What a sense of rhythm and energy that man has! And I thought Michal Górka on the tagelharpa & mandola was absolutely amazing; he played the most beautiful melodies seemingly effortlessly!
Although everyone played very focused, they conveyed a great atmosphere and energy.
The figurehead of Daj Ognia is the singer Anna Sitko, who also plays wonderfully on a basy (a three-stringed primal cello). With her great singing and enthusiasm she knows how to inspire and captivate the audience!
Once again Daj Ognia was the highlight of the Medieval week for me and my travel companion Celinda from CreaMundi, and it seems that more and more people are finding Daj Ognia!
(About Daj Ognia: Celtcast.com,  EtnoKrakow.pl,  Polskieradio.pl,  Spotify,  YouTube)

Home of Beowulf

On Friday August 8, 2025, we attended an English-language lecture on Beowulf. The information on the MedeltidsVeckan.se website was in Swedish, so we assumed the lecture would also be in Swedish. Fortunately, we had met Hans Wanneby and Rikard Evertsson the week before on August 1, 2025, at the Viking camp of Stavgard on Gotland; they told us about the lecture in Visby and that it was being given in English.
The authors reexamined the Beowulf poem, which describes how Beowulf arrived in Denmark from Sweden after a journey of several days, arriving at a longhouse with King Hrothgar, who was being tormented by the monstrous Grendel. Considering the ocean currents, Beowulf's point of departure could have been on Gotland. The landscape described in the poem resembles the Danish coast when sailing from Gotland to Denmark. The authors also found many clues on Gotland itself that align with the Beowulf text. The authors found historical explanations for all the elements in the story, so they believe Beowulf is not fiction. An interesting perspective on the Beowulf story!
During our visit to Stavgard on August 1, 2025, I bought their book about Beowulf and also got an autograph from both of them in the front of their book!
On August 5, 2026, the documentary film about "The Beowulf" by Hans Wanneby & Rikard Evertsson premiered in Visby, in which we were now able to view their discoveries illustrated with film footage. Just like their lecture last year, this documentary was very interesting! Afterwards there was an opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversation with Hans Wanneby & Rikard Evertsson, where interesting topics were discussed.
(See also the book: Home of Beowulf - Hans Wanneby & Rikard Evertsson,  YouTube Grimfrost - Hans Wanneby & Rikard Evertsson,  the Vikingology interview  &  Wikipedia)

Castlefest or Medieval Week?

Actually, you can't compare these events, but since they take place almost simultaneously, you will have to make a choice between either Castlefest in Lisse or the Medeltids Veckan in Visby.
Lisse and Keukenhof Castle pale in comparison to the medieval atmosphere of the town of Visby with its beautiful city wall and medieval buildings. During the Medeltids Veckan, you'll encounter people in medieval attire everywhere in town; the whole of old Visby is the event location. The Medeltids Veckan in Visby has been called the largest medieval event in Scandinavia and even in Europe! The atmosphere of the event is similar to Castlefest, but Castlefest with 55.000 visitors seems busier and larger.
Although Medeltids Veckan attracts between 50,000 and 100,000 visitors, it's quieter, more relaxed, actually more like the old Keltfest in Dordrecht and the new festival Runeheim in Appeltern. In that respect, I would choose to go to Visby instead of the overcrowded Castlefest. Castlefest has more to offer in terms of the number of market and food stalls and the variety of what's offered there.
You can easily discover many different bands during Castlefest, and you won't find anything like the Wicker Burning at Castlefest during the Medeltids Veckan. What attracted a similar amount of audience as the Wicker Burning at Castlefest was the fire show on Wednesday evening. The wicker burning at Castlefest is different every year and has a spiritual significance, the fire show on Wednesday evening in Visby and the shooting of burning arrows into the sea during the opening night in Visby are spectacular yet are meaningless rituals.
Besides a workshop on witchcraft, a play about Freya and a pagan band, I didn't encounter much else in the way of spiritual offerings at the Medeltids Veckan in Visby, as if people weren't spiritual in the Middle Ages. Castlefest had more to offer in terms of spirituality and ancient religion with the pagan gang, where you can get to know different pagan / heathen groups.
I missed a 'spiritual court' at the Medeltids Veckan. A downside for me was that you had to pay extra for many bands, which makes it less likely to discover new bands by seeing if you like them. Fortunately I only paid once each year (2024, 2025, 2026) for a band I didn't like. However, the ambiance of the perfor­man­ces in the ruined churches was fantastic! You should definitely experience the Medeltids Veckan in Visby at least once!
(YouTube videos about the Medieval Week of 2024:   Lisa Raspopa 22 min.,  Nils Lemonnier 2 min.,  Rebecca Bylander 8 min.,  Three Star Vagabond 13 min.
 2025:  This is Geeky! 24 min.,  Rebecca Bylander 7 min.,  Pixabove 136 min.
 and 2026:  This is Geeky! 37 min. )

Error Error

The website where you could order tickets (Nortic.se) consistently gave me an error message after payment in 2025 and also in 2026 on various computers (Windows, Linux, Android) with different browsers (Brave, Firefox, DuckDuckGo), with or without a VPN; I had to check my credit card app every time to see if it had gone through successfully or not. As a result, I once paid twice in 2025, but after reporting the issue, I received the double-paid amount back without issue. However, the error messages did not disappear throughout the entire event in 2025, and so far, they haven't disappeared in 2026 either...
When my travel companion wanted to book something via Nortic.se, she also got the same error messages, yet when we booked tickets online for the Lummelunda Caves near Visby in late July 2026, it went entirely without error messages, but then again, that wasn't done via Nortic.se.
Everyone I asked during Medieval Week about their experiences ordering via Nortic.se told me that they received the same error message after their payment!
On June 21, 2026, I tried to book the premiere of the docu­men­tary film about Beowulf, but as usual, this resulted in an error message after the payment. I saw in my credit card app that the payment had been debited, and I also received an email with a link to download the tickets, but it didn't work: "Ordern finns inte i systemet".
Unfortunately, the helpdesk couldn't help me at first (you have booked a lot, isn't it in the spam? Aren't you mixing up different bookings?). So, they thought the email I sent them with their email as an attachment had ended up in my spam folder? Well, then I wouldn't be able to send the confirmation email as an attachment with mine email, would I!
My error message was that the order could not be found, whereupon they asked me if I could send the correct order number because the order number I provided could not be found in the system - yes, that was exactly my problem! Reading comprehension turned out to be a major problem. I really had to get a bit angry to get the helpdesk to read and actually investigate the problem. Yet even now that we are in Visby in August 2026 and are booking a few last things, Nortic.se continues to give error messages after payment!
Always check your email and see if you can actually download the ticket; if not, contact the helpdesk and order NOTHING else until this is resolved! While working on the "problem solving," even a few tickets I had bought that had gone through fine were cancelled and refunded to my account, so I had to order them again, naturally with error messages where one ticket could not be found in the system, so a repeat of the story above.
It is all very stressful. There is clearly a downward trend regarding the ticket ordering process and the helpdesk. The website really functioned better in 2024; back then, I didn't have this kind of nonsense.


Conclusion
Given the increasing problems surrounding ticket ordering and the growing effort I had to put in to get those issues resolved, I have decided not to attend Medieval Week in 2027; after a three-year absence, I am going back to Castlefest from August 5 to 8 in 2027!!!

Martin Roek      



In the middle/right the St.Nicolai church ruins