This one was special. Wrote about my dad, our football team, and an event celebrating the franchise that brought us together put on by some of my good friends.

My latest for Vikings On SI: https://t.co/qNTg0PZRbd

— Jason Harmon (@JasonHarmonNFL) September 8, 2026

Skol in the Family: Breaking Down a Legacy of Vikings Fandom as Week 1 Looms

For Vikings fans, football represents much more than just a game.

It’s the early 1960’s in the blazing hot military town of Twentynine Palms, CA.

A young boy turns on the TV after his father heads off for work at the Marine base down the road. What he finds is the first professional football game he’s ever seen, with a blazing-fast quarterback dodging defenders all around the backfield. The boy? My father, Larry Harmon. The QB? Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton.

The team? The Minnesota Vikings. Over sixty years later, that random NFL broadcast carries significant consequences. 

About 30 years later, I was born just 45 minutes away in the famed resort town of Palm Springs, and even with zero family ties to Minnesota, the Vikings fandom my dad stumbled upon in his youth passed down to me like a gut-wrenching inheritance of blind hope and late-season misery. In fact, it was one of the few things that ever truly brought us together in an otherwise strained relationship. No matter how bad things got, we always had Sundays. 

My father passed away from cancer 11 years ago this week, and the bond we shared over the Vikes looms large as another season approaches. We experienced quite the ride together over the years. Heck, the first time I saw him cry was at the end of the 1998 NFC Championship loss. Years later, we both shed tears after the brutal heartbreak of 2009. In January 2018, I wore the Vikings starter jacket he left me after he passed, watching what would become the Minneapolis Miracle from an Arizona bar with other fans holding on to the jacket for “good luck.”

Let's just say there's a reason my firstborn is named after Case Keenum.

What started in Southern California in the sixties eventually led my family and me to where we are now, living in Minnesota, with me covering the team. One thing I've learned? The same love my dad and I shared for this football team is a common thread connecting a worldwide network of Vikings fans.

You won’t have to look far to see that love in action this weekend as the team prepares to open the season on Sunday against the Packers. 

Importance of Skol Fest to Vikings fans

Vikings content creator and podcaster Sean Kenner’s Vikings origin story starts less than an hour from my hometown. The San Bernardino resident’s story with the team begins with an experience that could be traced to the genesis of many journeys into the fandom: watching the dominance of rookie Randy Moss.

Kenner admits he could have easily found a less trauma-inducing path: “No one was a Vikings fan in my family. I made that hard decision on my own.” 

In 2017, Kenner attended his first Vikings game in Minnesota and noticed the excitement fans showed during a weekly event put on by local radio station KFAN.

I flew out by myself without knowing anybody in Minnesota just to watch my team and go to any Vikings-themed event in the cities. I attended Friday Football Feast and said to myself, ‘It would be cool to put on something like this one day.'

Sean Kenner on Skol Fest

Soon enough, he would do just that. The first iteration came a couple of years later, in a small pizza place where three people watched Kenner do a live podcast. In 2026, the scale and impact are much greater, thanks to Kenner and other fans from across the country. 

Kenner and others in the community created Skol Fest in 2023, an annual event in Minneapolis hosted during the week of the Vikings’ home opener.

“Skol Fest represents the passion, loyalty, and community of Vikings fans," Kenner said. "It’s more than just a party or a football event; it’s a cultural event. It’s a place where people from all walks of life can come together over something we all love and are passionate about.”

The group will host the 2026 iteration on Saturday evening, the night before the Vikings host the Packers to start the 2026 season. The event has become a staple for many in the fanbase during home-opener week for the Vikings, and it keeps getting bigger.

It really started with the connections we’ve made through being fans and podcasting. Social media and online Vikings communities have made it possible for people who live hundreds or even thousands of miles apart to become friends and feel like they’re part of the same family. A lot of us had never met in person, but we already had that common bond through the Vikings

Sean Kenner on Skol Fest's growth

The event illustrates the connection many Vikings fans share with the team and each other, seeing fandom as a core identity rather than a hobby or side interest. I guess years of heartbreak and letdowns will do that to a community.

Being a Vikings fan

For me, events and stories like these allow me to feel the connection I had with my late father, an annual cycle of hope that this could finally be the year, while years of lessons to the contrary tell me otherwise.

Still, it's about who you share those moments with.

“We’ve been through some incredible highs and some absolutely brutal lows, and somehow that just makes the connection stronger," Kenner summarized. "You can meet another Vikings fan anywhere in the country and immediately feel like you have something in common.” 

Vikings fans interested in attending Skol Fest can attend the event with a free ticket on their website.