Winter festivals in Shetland

Don’t miss the opportunity to join a special island celebration. You may be surprised to learn it’s not just Lerwick that hosts this fire festival - there are 10 Up Helly Aa events from January to March across the isles.

 

Held in Lerwick on the last Tuesday of January, the Up Helly Aa event begins early in the morning when the replica Viking longship is escorted to Victoria Pier and ends with a torchlight procession at night.

 

The procession can involve up to a thousand participants carrying burning torches and follows the Viking Jarl Squad. A closely guarded secret during the months it is built until its public unveiling on Up Helly Aa day, the replica longship is led to its final resting place and set alight as the guizers throw their burning torches into the galley.

 

This torchlit procession and galley burning are reminiscent of pagan Norse rituals, where great chieftains were cremated with their treasures. The festival also marks the end of the winter solstice.

 

Revellers then make their way to the various venues around the town for a party that lasts into the wee small hours. This event involves the entire population to some extent, so it should come as no surprise the day following the Lerwick Up Helly Aa is a public holiday.

 

Up Helly Aa can be traced back to the 1880s - and more than 100 years later this has become a fully fledged winter festival. Most Shetland residents can recite a few lines of the Up Helly Aa song or recount a memorable item on the Up Helly Aa Bill (a notice erected on the day for the public to read).

 

There are 10 separate Up Helly Aas which sweep across Shetland throughout January, February and March, so don’t miss the opportunity to visit Shetland and share in this very special part of the island’s heritage.

 

Find out more about Scotland's winter festivals.