Famous Up Helly Aa festival sets Shetland’s skies ablaze

Vikings and hundreds of torchbearers have marched through the streets of Lerwick for Europe’s largest fire festival.

The world-famous event lights up the skies above Shetland’s capital every year on the last Tuesday in January when local “guizers” throw their torches at a replica of a Viking long ship until it is consumed by flames.

A nod to Shetland’s Norse heritage, the parade is led by a group of Vikings, locally known as the “Jarl Squad”.

Lynden Nicolson, who is the squad’s chief called Guizer Jarl, had to wait 18 years to take up the role of commanding the procession – this is said to be the longest wait in the festival’s 145-year-old history.

When the darkness descended on Britain’s most northerly islands on Tuesday, the Jarl Squad was joined by more than 40 other torch-clutching groups of revellers for the evening procession – the festival’s main event.

It culminated with the burning of a replica galley – a Viking long ship – that the main squad had built themselves throughout the year.

As he watched his galley “Skyldulid” slowly turn to ashes, Guizer Jarl Lynden couldn’t contain his excitement.

Speaking to BBC Scotland News, the 58-year-old meter technician said: “I’m on a high, I’m feeling half my age.

“The day has gone by in a flash – everybody tells you it will – and what a flash it was.

“It’s so brilliant to be in that galley and watch the torches go around, there is just not enough words to describe it,” he added.

The festival began early in the morning with a parade around Lerwick, allowing the Jarl Squad to show off their custom-made suits, helmets and shields.

All members of the group were involved in the making of their Viking clothes in some way – a feat that took years to complete.

The design for their wolf-head helmets alone took Lynden and local artists Dirk Robertson and Andrew Tate almost three years to finalise.

The results of their hard work were met with excited cheers and shouts from hundreds of onlookers who braved the sleety weather to watch the daytime procession.

Among the revellers were Luke Stoltman, Europe’s Strongest Man winner, and his brother Tom, who is a three-time World’s Strongest Man champion.

They travelled to Shetland to experience Up Helly Aa from up close instead of just seeing snippets of it on the news.

Tom said: “To follow the squad around and to do the chants is unbelievable.

“Seeing how much effort they’ve put into it is just amazing,” he added.

The brothers from Invergordon were joined by locals supporting their family members in the squad, and visitors from as far as Singapore and Canada.

Lynden and the 65 members of his Viking company, aged between six and 87, spent the rest of the day singing and dancing in schools, care homes and community centres.

The celebrations were set to continue until the early hours of Wednesday, which is declared a public holiday.