Viking roadshow prepares to visit isles

MORE details have been released about the upcoming Follow The Vikings project which will visit Shetland over two weekends in September.

The EU-funded roadshow will see the Ardglass Vikings from Northern Ireland visit Unst on 2 and 3 September with a replica longship.

They will be joined by the Walhalla Vikings from Poland as they set up a Viking camp at Haroldswick, with Shetland Amenity Trust’s Viking longhouse due open alongside the replica longship Skidbladner.

There will be a number of activities on offer including combat demonstrations, fire breathing, jewellery making and woodwork.

Also on the agenda will be a Viking feast and tours of local excavation sites.

The following weekend will see tours, workshops and reenactments held at the Shetland Museum and Archives in Lerwick.

Follow The Vikings is a four-year roadshow travelling across Europe between 2015 and 2019 led by Shetland Amenity Trust locally.

It will form part of Visit Scotland’s year of history, heritage and archaeology.

The organisation’s island manager Steve Mathieson said: “Shetland’s history and heritage is defined by its people, both past and present and is an integral and iconic part of our national identity.”

Full details of the programme will be unveiled on 16 August.