A good day to be a Viking at Midsummer Festival in Geneva
It's been 125 years since an exact replica of the Viking ship Gokstad sailed across the ocean from Norway to the United States and eventually the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
That was cause for celebration Sunday as Geneva's Good Templar Park played host to the annual Viking Midsummer Festival - also known as Swedish Day.
Besides tours of the 78-foot ship, the event featured dozens of Viking re-enactors, encampments, and displays; Scandinavian and American foods; Viking and Scandinavian vendors; and Kubb & Viking children's games.
Visitors also had the chance to check out performances by Chicago Spelmanslag and the Nordic Folk Dancers of Chicago, and witness the traditional Maypole raising.
According to festival organizers, "Svenskarnas Dag" is the Midwest's oldest Midsummer festival, dating back to 1911.