WARM weather has greeted the Vikings in York this weekend at the 2019 Jorvik Viking Festival.

Crowds lined the streets as a procession of more than 250 Vikings, and a sell-out audience filled the Eye of York for the evening Battle Spectacular which told the stories of Viking women drawn from ancient Norse sagas.

Marketing manager, Beth Dawes, said that so far it's been had been another fantastic festival.

She said: “This truly has been a year for the women of Jorvik – not only did they head up the March to Coppergate, leading more than 250 Vikings, but our ‘best beard’ competition had more female than male entrants, with nine women displaying their hand-crafted and styled facial hair.”

The new venue for the Strongest Viking competition – St Sampson’s Square – was packed, with Viking warriors and contemporary strongmen taking to the stage for impressive trials of strength and endurance. Particularly popular were special guests, Josh Maley, who regularly models for festival sponsor Descended from Odin, and Ryan French, who demonstrated impressive skills, lifting 260kg.

The warm weather almost certainly helped draw out visitors and locals alike, with the encampment on Parliament Street busy throughout the first four days of the Festival.

Beth said: “The forecast looks warm and dry into next week, which is perfect for those on half term in York to come and enjoy the rest of the Festival, which continues until Wednesday.”

CLICK HERE FOR A GALLERY OF PHOTOS FROM THE 2018 FESTIVAL

Today Viking experts from around the world are meeting at York St John University for the annual Richard Hall Symposium.

The theme for this years festival, Women and Power in the Viking World, had guest lecturers including Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir, from Yale University, Judith Jesch, the University of Nottingham, and Pragya Vohra from the University of York.