Be a volunteer or craftsman at Foteviken

Due to the Corona virus pandemic some of these summer activities may be affected. Please keep in touch with museum@foteviken.se.

Do you want to bring the Viking Age to life?

Are you interested in participating as craftsmen,theaterpeople,educators,role play leaders for our live mediation at the Foteviken Museum`s reconstructed Viking city. We are primarily focusing on themes like textiles, leatherworking, ceramics, food and cooking, metal- and wood-working. All work takes place in or around the homesteads that form the historical museum environments. We work in time typical Viking Age clothing, using historical tools and methods.

There are many other crafts we wish to show other than the ones previously mentioned. Working with amber, bone and horn, making baskets, musical instruments, rune carving, salt production etc. These crafts are just as important, and if you are skilled in any of them you are just as welcome.

Something for you?

Aside from craftsmen we have a place for you who want to work as a volunteer with improvisation theatre, cultivations, games and other activitities. For this you only need to be accommodating, outward and curious.
You are serviceminded and keep in mind that our visitors will experience you and your knowledge as part of the museum.
You are good at talking to people in an engaging way.
You can adapt to routines quickly and work as a team with the others on site.
You are passionate about keeping old crafting traditions alive.
You are atleast 18 years of age.
It is good if you can speak Swedish, English or German. Your native language does not matter, the Viking Age was a very global and multilingual period of history.

You are welcome throughout our summer season, July 1 to September 6.

For faraway travelers we offer free simple accomodations in our volunteer house with rooms with bunk beds. If you so desire you may also live in the Viking town in one of the Viking buildings, or in your own brought Viking tent.

There are showers and toilets available in direct connection with the volunteer house, and a kitchen for cooking in the evening. We will provide you with free simple breakfast in the morning, as well as lunch to be cooked in front of visitors within the historic Viking environments.

To make it easier for everyone you are expected to participate for at least one full week. While the museum is open every day volunteers will have the Tuesday off.

Please send in your application to participate well in advance of your arrival. Include information about who you are, your background, education, interests and skill, along with the time period you wish to participate. Send your application to info@foteviken.se with the subject "Volunteer work and Viking crafts". Feel free to include a picture of yourself, your crafts and a description of what you can do.

What is a volunteer?

A volunteer is simply a person who is so interested in his speciality that he or she are willing to spend time, commitment and work with self-satisfaction as the reward.

Do you want to be a volunteer at Foteviken Museum ?

You are interested in Vikings and the Viking age and would like to live and work in a historic setting. While not required, it is a plus if you are outgoing, enjoy acting and role playing or are theatrical. The Viking town offers an unparalleled chance to enjoy those interests. If you are interested in old crafts you will get an excellent chance to learn and practice with us. Socializing with like-minded people in the Viking town can be very stimulating and satisfying.

Fotevikens Museum with its Viking Town is an Archaeological Open Air Museum, meaning the Viking town is built with archaeological finds as a template and historical sources as a basis. Here the inhabitants live according to the contemporary Viking age standards to create a credible time travel experience for our visitors.

The Viking town lives in the year 1138 AD, a time of transition between the Viking Age and Middle Ages. A few years earlier, the Battle of Foteviken took place. Now the dead are buried and the marketplace has evolved into a town. Re-enactors from all over the world come here each year to recreate the battle of Foteviken for a few days during the Foteviken Viking Market.

Craftsmen, storytellers, educators, students, researchers, actors

As a volunteer, you will help populate the town and bring to life the daily life of a Viking society to the visitors of the museum. This includes not only to the general public, but also visiting school classes. If you have special interests or are good at older crafts, study or research, have an educational interest, play theatre and role-playing games, or if you simply are very interested in Viking life, we believe you will fit in here really well.

We also need the help of our volunteers with various other tasks during the summer and especially during the Viking Week and the Viking Market, which takes place the week after Midsummer (usually the last week in June).

Why do we need volunteers?

Fotevikens Museum is an Archaeological Open Air Museum. Such museums are common in Europe but in Sweden there are only a few. Like Middelaldercentret, one of our counterparts in Denmark, and other similar facilities across Europe, we are constantly in need of enthusiastic interns and volunteers to populate our town and provide visitors with a living Viking experience.

As a volunteer, you get the opportunity to visit and participate in seminars, workshops and courses at, among others, the Middelaldercentret.

Being a volunteer

When you have arrived you will need to join the association SVEG (Scandinavian Viking Explorer Group) in order to be covered by the association’s insurance while staying in our facilities. Go to the SVEG website and register.

If you do not have Viking age clothing fitting your role you may borrow an attire from the museum. If you have a Viking tent you may live in it within the Viking Town. If you have a plastic tent you may live just outside the museum. As a volunteer you may also live free of charge in our volunteer house. This is a modern age building located just outside the museum area with several rooms with bunk beds.

This information is also available as a downloadable pamphlet (PDF).