Last weekend, we celebrated the autumn equinox and sent off the summer in style with an incredible evening of living history, live music, and lots and lots of fire.

We burnt this year’s majestic Viking longship at dusk, after the climactic battle between Vikings and Saxons. Which side did you cheer for? Was it one of your tribe’s warriors who fell?

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this festival and helped to make it so special! To everyone who made it out, to all our visitors and volunteers and supporters here, thank you for making things like this possible — may your mead cup be ever-full!

Stay tuned here for some of our favourite pictures from the event!

Relive the magic!

Watch the full commemorative video on Butser Plus for as little as £2.99!

Photos from Equinox Viking Boat Burn 2023

With all our thanks

We are a small team from a small museum, and Equinox is an incredibly ambitious event for us to hold each year — one only made possible by an incredible number of wonderful people working very hard.

To all our staff and volunteers, thank you for your tireless work in preparing for and running this event! To the reenactors of Herigeas Hundas, Wuffa, and Jotunn’s Wrath, the musicians Per Kelt, Solfyr, and Seidrblot, the performers of Steamship Circus and Mythago — thank you.

To Mark Ford of Two Circles Design for creating a truly incredible longship, and Wendy Vincent-Spall for making an iconic sail. To Leofric Designs for hand-crafting our beautiful Equinox Drums, to Jim Clift for making a bronze sword for the raffle winner, to everyone who gave a talk, demonstration, or a story, or who worked to provide food, drink, entertainment, or wares.

To friends unnamed but not forgotten, thank you.

And finally, to our supporters on Butser Plus, to our visitors, and to you 💚