Fodor's Expert Review Viking Festival

Held every February in York, this weeklong commemoration of the conquest of England by the Great Viking Army in 866 (only the British would hold a festival celebrating a losing battle) has more than 60 events, including a longship regatta and workshops for kids ranging from Viking-era crafts to fighting skills like archery and swordplay, as well as historical lectures, a banquet, and a beard competition. It ends with the Jorvik Viking Centre combat reenactment, where the invading Norsemen confront the Anglo-Saxon defenders.