| Where: | Lerwick, Shetland |
| When: | Last Tuesday in January |
| Time: | From 8.30 am, burning 7.30 onwards |
Up Helly Aa is the biggest fire festival in Europe and takes place on the last Tuesday in January each year, celebrating the Viking heritage of Shetland . Groups of fancy-dressed folk march through town led by Guiser Jarl with his Galley – this takes place during the day with regular stops for photography and refreshment. The Shetland Museum stop around 3 pm (time is a little variable for this one as it depends on how quickly the earlier visits to schools, residential homes etc have been completed) is recommended as a good place for visitors to meet the participants and see the elaborate costumes in good light as much of the later action is during the hours of darkness. Look out for the Proclamation posted at the Market Cross, and for the many shop windows decorated for the event using costumes and props from earlier years. Processions begin at 5.30 on the Hillhead for Juniors, followed by the adults at 7.30 – expect literally hundreds of torch bearers and Guizer Jarl with his Squad hauling their specially built galley. Following the procession, the ship is ceremonially burned at the King George V Playing Field with a crowd of up to five thousand spectators before the Guisers dance the night away in a series of organised ceilidhs at halls around town, at which each Squad of guises put on a performance in turn. The spectacle of the massed hundreds of guisers marching around the galley at the burning site is particularly impressive, and the sight of them hurling their flaming torches into the ship to set it alight. Guiser Jarl is elected each year so plenty of people get the chance to play the role – the festival has been going well over 100 years and is absolutely magnificent. Note that while older sources may state that only men may take part in the processions, this has now changed and for the first time in 2024, there were women and girls in the Guiser’s own Squad.
Other places have their own version of Up Helly Aa like Scalloway, Cullivoe and Brae but the Lerwick event is by far the biggest and best known.
Helpful Hints
In 2025 it should be on Tuesday 28th January.
You’ll need to plan this visit well in advance to arrange transport and accommodation, both of which are limited (see links on the website below). Programmes are available at the local shops and Tourist Centre during the day (and a visit to the Up Helly Aa Exhibition at the Galley Shed on St Sunniva Street is recommended if you’re also in the area during the summer months).
The streets around the playing field give a good view of the burning site and of the torchlit Procession, especially St Olaf Street.
Click here for the event website : http://www.uphellyaa.org/
I visited Up Helly Aa in 2013, and believe the world can be split in to those who’ve been to Up Helly Aa and those who haven’t. Those who have are special and should be respected. (The event is not held for tourists, as a visiter, you have to fit in around what’s happening, no one will wait for you…) If you can, catch the ferry there, the local bands from the mainland, there fore the music festival will be travelling with you, and the journey there is full of traditional music and laughter, even if the sea is a bit rough. The actual day of the festival starts early, with a parade and photo opportunities with the Guizer Squad, who’ve spent a year making their outfits and the Galley, they’ll be burning, and in the evening, the march: 1,000 men with burning braziers snaking through the streets as far as you can see is something to behold. The galley burns well, and then the party starts. If you can get tickets for one of the halls, it’s a major experience. Each squad (The Guizer Squad is just the lead group, there could be 50 different ‘squads’) takes it in turn to perform their sketch, than there’s a dance. The party ends when the last squad has performed their sketch, and the last dance has been played… This is usually around 9am, when everyone is a little ‘tired and emotional’ from the festivities. The whole island celebrates, (Other islands have their own Up Helly Aa’s, Shetland is a collection of several islands) and Lerwick is a ghost town the following day, so buy the souvenirs you need the day you arrive. And the ferry back is a more sober experience, but if you’ve emersed yourself in Shetland history and culture for your holiday, you’ll return home, changed, and wanting to go back, like I do.
Thanks for sharing your experiences – I haven’t been yet but it’s high up there on my “to-do” list. As you know, it takes a bit of forward planning but it’ll all be well worthwhile, I’m sure. Hope you manage to get back there next time!
Best Wishes,
Averil
Thanks Averil, You can go by yourself, or a small group, but if you can find a tour organiser, maybe book with them? As it’s just a festival for the locals, there aren’t many organisations who’ll take tourists. But with an organised tour, you’re more likely to get Hall Tickets (but this isn’t guaranteed). I went with one based in Edinburgh and they did all the driving… which was a blessing considering the day of the festival, imbibing alcohol started early and didn’t finish until the last dance… I’m sure I wouldn’t have been legally allowed to drive for a week after the festival, due to my blood alcohol level! Individuals can ask around for tickets, (at the Tourist Office) and hope some are made available for them, with 11 or so halls around Lerwick involved, there’s some opportunity to get tickets, but again, it’s not guaranteed. The whole thing was fun. But as part of an organised group, you don’t get the choice of visiting all parts of Shetland or the surrounding islands, you’d wish to visit. Lerwick Up Helly Aa is the main festival in the year, and it is special, but all the other islands also have sights (views, wildlife, etc) and events (other Up Helly Aa’s) which are also unique and should be experienced. I would suggest you go, and if you don’t like it, at least you’ll know why you didn’t enjoy it, so you’d never need go again, but more likely, as soon as you arrive back home, you’ll start planning your return to Lerwick. (As I have). Or visit Shetland in the summer, for the music festivals, etc. It is the most northerly part of the UK, but it’s weather isn’t as bad as you’d think.
Thanks – I’m really looking forward to seeing it and I’m sureI’ll enjoy it. Nothing beats a good fire festival! I’ll bear in mind your advice – having the driving done for you sounds like a good idea for a start.I guess if you can’t see everything on the Up Helly Aa tours, it will at least give you an idea of what else to see on a revisit, perhaps in summer months when everything should be open for tourism.I won’t be able to get there next year, but I’m planning on being there in the not too distant future – the sooner the better as it looks great!
Best Wishes,
Averil