Up Helly Aa

Month : NA
Place : Shetland, Scotland
Famous For : Fire Festival
Attractions : Guizers Procession, Themed Costumes, Throwing of Torches, Skit, Local Events, Singing, Dancing.

The famous Up Helly Aa is a series of fire festivals held in Shetland, Scotland during the month of. It marks the end of the yule season in Scotland. The celebrations of Up Helly Aa involves a procession of up to a thousand guizers in Lerwick and considerably lower numbers in the more rural festivals, formed into squads who march through the town or village in a variety of themed costumes. This look has grown out of barrelling which took place at Christmas and New Year.

Major Attractions

The first Up Helly Aa"s yule torch procession took place in 1881. The following year the torchlit procession was significantly enhanced and institutionalised through a request by a Lerwick civic body to hold another Up Helly-Aa torch procession for Duke of Edinburgh"s visit. The first galley was burned in 1889.There is a main guizer who is dubbed the "Jarl". The procession concludes with the torches being thrown into a replica Viking longship or galley. The event happens all over Shetland, but it is only the Lerwick galley which is not sent seaward. Everywhere else, the galley is sent sea bound, in an echo of legendary Viking sea burials. After the procession, the squads visit local halls where private parties are held. At each hall, each squad performs its act like a show, skit, local events, singing or dancing.