No 'Vikings' at this year's Montana State Fair

People from all over Montana come to Great Falls each year for the Montana State Fair, and often have one specific thing that they want to see while they’re here. For a lot of people, that’s the iconic Viking.

For those who have never heard of it – a Viking is essentially a big meatball that has been dipped in batter and deep-fried, and then served on a stick.

The Sons of Norway Lodsen Lodge posted on Facebook earlier this month that they will not be at the Montana State Fair this year.

This is due to new regulations requiring an automatic fire suppression system that they were not able to have installed and inspected in time.

The fire suppression system was made a requirement for Montana in May of this year, with the intent to keep fairgoers, staff, and vendors safe.

Due to the new regulations this year, the Viking booth will not be present at the Montana State Fair.

“It’s known as the Sons of Norway Viking booth, where we do our famous Vikings,” said Shannon Wilson, the food service manager for the Viking booth. “A lot of people have told me they come to the fair just for Vikings, so we were pretty distressed that we couldn’t get the fire suppression equipment that we needed to be able to, it was required as of May of this year, and all of the vendors are just overloaded with requests, so we couldn’t do this year, but we’ll definitely be back next year.”

While a majority of their funding comes from the proceeds made at their booth each year at the fair, they are not concerned from a financial standpoint and will continue business as usual, including their regular donations to non-profits and youth groups.

“It’s important to continue the Viking booth that does a lot for our organization. We raise funds to support nonprofits around town; we also support youth groups,” Wilson added.

Annual fairgoers took to Facebook with their sadness for having to miss out on the Sons of Norway’s famous Vikings this year, but they have continued to show support for the organization and are looking forward to next year’s state fair.

“We are discussing [potentially] having Vikings as part of our December bake sale, so stay tuned, watch our Facebook page, and especially, you know, visit often because we have a lot of activities going on and we invite the community to join us,” said Wilson.

Although the Viking booth will be missed, there will still be plenty of things to do and see and enjoy while you’re at the Montana State Fair.