Events at Birka

There is almost always something going on at Birka! In addition to our usual guided tours of the archaeological site and museum visits, you can also come here for family activities, themed tours, meet tattoo artists, show your strength, and much more. 

events at Birka – program 2024

May 4
Season opening

May 9th – 2^th June
Embrace the Spring at Birka

In May, the museum and the restaurant have opening hours while the the tour boats arrive to the Island – between Thursday-Sunday.

Here you can see updated opening hours for Restaurant Särimner

A Viking and our volunteers bring the Viking quarter to life with crafts and spontaneous guidance. Another Viking guides the real Birka, with burial grounds, the ruins of the ancient castle, and the landscape of ancient remains. The museum is open and the museum shop is filled with new products this year!

If you want to visit Birka when to queues are short, the weather is not to hot and explore the spring in open landscapes – this is the period for you!

June 6^th -9th
Birka Historical Tattoo Fest
Take the chance to ink yourself at Birka. We welcome several tattoo artists to the Island and you as a visitor can get to opportunity to enjoy a longer visit on the island if you book an appointment with an artist. Book your ticket to Birka as usually via Stromma, and if you want to get a tattoo, it is up to you to get in contact with the artist of your choosing and book a time. This spring, presentations and contact info will be released sporadically only on social media:

Read more about Birka Historical Tattoo Fest

June 19th– 23th
Museum closed, but the restaurant is open.

Here you can see updated opening hours for Restaurant Särimner

June 21th
Midsummer celebration at Birka
Celebrate traditional midsummer at Birka – good food, games, and dancing around the midsummer pole.

Read more about Midsummar at Birka

June 24^th – August 31^rst
Summer at Birka
The high season is in full swing – the museum & restaurant are open daily. Café Eldrimner is open daily between June 24 and August 11. After Midsummer week several boats from various destinations arrive to Birka. This is the period for you that want to journey from other destinations than just Stockholm area, go swimming in the mythical lake Mälaren and extended opening hours for the flexible visitor.

June 24^th – 30^th
Children’s Birka
Child- and family-friendly activities.

Read more about Children’s Birka

July 8 – 28^th
Vikings at Birka
Vikings, Vikings and more Vikings in the reconstructed village! The association Birka-Hovgårdens Gille has taken over the village during three weeks. Explore their daily tasks, talk to skilled craftsmen or explore the viking boats by the jetty.

Read more about Vikings at Birka

July 24^th  – 27^th
Strong Viking
Experience the success Strong Viking at Birka – a strength competition in harmony between past and present competition disciplines. Do you like carrying sticks and stones, do you want to join the competition? There are also try-on stations for everyone.

Read more about Strong Viking

New! Do you want to see the final of Starke Viking’s brutal four-day competition, Birkas Elddop on July 27? Book our special departure from Stockholm. The departure times are adapted so that you can see the entire final.

August 25^th
National Archaeology day

Welcome to Björkö and Birka on Archaeology Day – this year’s theme is “In the Footsteps of Hjalmar Stolpe.

Read more about National Archaeology day at Birka

Theme Ansgar – The Apostle of the North
August 31 – September 1

The apostel of the north is back! Ansgar was a French monk who came to the pagan Birka in the 9th century to preach Christianity, but in the North, Odin and Thor were worshipped and resistance and conflicts arose. Listen to Ansgar himself talk about his dramatic journeys to Birka, stormy negotiations, and evil sudden death in a city far away in the wilderness.

Dramatized guided tour, visit to the Ansgar Chapel, activities with the Ekerö parish.

Read more about Ansgar – The Apostle of the North

September 5th–29^th
Autumn at Birka
A Viking and our volunteers bring the Viking quarter to life with crafts and spontaneous guidance. Another Viking guides the real Birka, with burial grounds, the ruins of the ancient castle, and the landscape of ancient remains. The museum is open and the museum shop is filled with new products this year!

Do you want to enjoy autumn with open landscapes, warm weather, maybe some mushroom picking, and short restaurant queues on a small island surrounded by the waters of Mälaren? Then this is the period to visit Birka for you!

In September, the museum and the restaurant have opening hours while the the tour boats arrive to the Island – between Thursday-Sunday.

Here you can see updated opening hours for Restaurant Särimner

October 5th-27^th
Birka is open on weekends in October
Do you want to experience Birka in its most beautiful autumn color in twilight light? Visit us this period!

At the end of the autumn, the museum and restaurant are open on weekends when the tour boat from Stockholm comes with guests.

Here you can see updated opening hours for Restaurant Särimner
Here you can see updated opening hours for the Museum.

October 26^th & 27^th 
Álfablót – the Halloween of the Vikings
This weekend magic and mythical beings are closer than ever. Enter haunted hills of the ancestors, admire or participate in the Álfablót (gift offering ritual) by the altar outside of the museum, get a reading in runes, explore craftmanship and activites in the viking houses – an event suitable for children and adults as well!

Read more abot Álfablót – the Halloween of the Vikings
Here you can book your boat ticket