Up Helly Aa

Up Helly Aa is any of a variety of fire festivals held in Shetland annually in the middle of winter. The festival involves a procession of guizers (or guisers) formed into squads processing through the town or village in a variety of themed costumes.

The first celebration was in 1878, when instead of burning the usual tar-barrel on Auld New Years Eve, a Shetland yoal (a traditional boat) decorated with a dragon's head and tail was burned. It did not become a regular event until 1889.

There is a main guizer who is dubbed the "Jarl". There is a committee which you must be part of for fifteen years before you can be a jarl, and only one person is elected onto this committee once a year.

This procession culminates in the torches being thrown into a replica Viking longship or galley. The event happens all over towns in Shetland, but it is only the Lerwick galley which is not sent seaward. Everywhere else, the galley is sent seabound, in an echo of actual Viking sea burials.

After the procession the squads visit local halls (this includes Schools, Sports Facilities and Hotels) where private parties are held. At each hall each squad performs its act, this may be a send-up of a popular TV show or film, a skit on local events, or singing or dancing, usually in flamboyant costume.

Due to the often flamboyant costumes and the large quantity of males dressing up as females, it has earned the joke name 'Transvestite Tuesday'.

The Lerwick Up Helly Aa

The Lerwick Up Helly Aa is claimed by some to be Britain's biggest fire festival and torchlight procession. However this may have been surpassed by a New Year event held in Edinburgh. The Lerwick festival always takes place on the last Tuesday in January, and is the largest in Shetland. Also, there are traditionally no women allowed in the Lerwick Up Helly-Aa, although Lerwick is the only Up Helly Aa location where this happens.

Photographs taken at the Lerwick Up Helly Aa, 30th January 1973

1 - the Guiser Jarl The Guiser Jarl is the principal character in the celebration of Up Helly Aa, which takes place on the last Tuesday in January. Each Guiser Jarl takes the name of a figure in Norse legend. This one was Flokki of the Ravens.		2 - the Jarl Squad The Jarl Squad is made up of the Guiser Jarl's supporters. It is the principal of many squads, and the participants are called guisers.
3 - the Galley Each year a replica of a Viking galley is built for Up Helly Aa.		4 - the Procession After nightfall the galley is dragged through the streets of the town in a torchlight procession. The torch bearers are the members of all the 'squads', led by the Jarl Squad. Each squad chooses a theme and dresses accordingly. The themes are very varied, some historical, some topical or satirical.
5 - the Circle Round the Galley When all the torchbearers arrive at the final resting spot of the galley, they form a circle round it and sing the traditional Up Helly Aa song.		6 - Setting Fire to the Galley After the singing of the Up Helly Aa song, the guisers throw their torches into the galley.
7 - the Burning Galley Once the galley has burned and the flames die down, a night of partying begins. Any available large room is pressed into service as a hall, presided over by a hostess who issues invitations to attend, and every guiser squad visits every hall in turn to dance and drink with the guests. As there can be dozens of squads and dozens of halls, this takes most of the night and well into the following morning. On the Wednesday, the only thing which moves in Lerwick is the 'hangover bus' taking passengers to the airport at Sumburgh.

See also

• Olavsfestival
• Ólavsøka