There are unique festivals and events around the world, from the rowdy Songkran water festival in Thailand to the rather calming hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In fact, Buzzfeed has a list of festivals you don’t want to miss. There are some people who make an effort to get to all of these crazy festivals or cultural events. Some enjoy seeing the cherry blossoms in Japan while others strive to attend Hogmanay. Other fun festivals and events include Oktoberfest, Mardi Gras, and Carnevale. I recently experienced the sensational Up Helly Aa in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland. Influenced by the Vikings, it dates back to the late 1800s. What is Up Helly Aa? How do you experience this wild night? And where are the Shetland Islands?! Read on…
Shetland Islands
Right, so first of all … where ARE the Shetland Islands?! If you’re not familiar with the UK, you might not know of them. They are an archipelago of around 100 islands, but only 16 or so are inhabited. Some of these islands are no more than a rock stack. The northernmost inhabited island in the UK is part of the Shetland Islands. It is Unst, and its about an hour north of Lerwick by a combination of car and ferry.
Shetland Islands are relatively easy to get to, despite their subarctic location, and a lot of people come solely for the festival. However, we (my parents and myself) spent a full week on the islands and we actually filled our days with outings across the whole archipelago. You can see a fairly detailed post about the Shetland Islands over on my travel blog.
What to do on and how to get to the Shetland Islands
The capital, Lerwick, is on the mainland, or the big island. It’s thirty minutes north of the airport at Sumburgh, which has year-round flights from the Scotland mainland and a seasonal flight to Bergen, Norway. Lerwick is also the largest Up Helly Aa festival, which takes place on the last Tuesday in January. Other communities have their own fire festivals, but they often occur on other dates. As a whole, the festivals take place across January and February.
There are a lot of archaeological ruins across the islands. Some are easier to get to than others. For example, Clickimin Broch (“brock”) is within walking distance of Lerwick’s town centre and Jarlshof (“yarls hof”) is near the airport. However, there are quite a few that require serious walking to, and others that are inaccessible in the winter. One of the world’s most complete brochs lies on the uninhabited island of Mousa; ferries do not run in the winter and we didn’t get to go. (I did, as a side note, start asking random people in town if they had a boat, but that got me nowhere. Oh well, next time right?!)
Up Helly Aa, the daytime
It’s taken me a while to process the events of last Tuesday because I wanted to imprint on my mind as much as possible. I’m going to do my darnedest to give you all the details about the event as well as sharing my personal experience.
The day begins with the daytime procession in the town centre. At some point overnight, the Guizer Jarl (Chief Earl) and his squad post a proclamation in the market cross, or town centre. Usually, there are town inside jokes which aren’t understood by any visitors. There are sometimes world political jokes or national events as well. For example, in the month before Up Helly Aa 2018, Flybe cancelled all flights, leaving Loganair as the monopoly for air travel in and out. That made the proclamation. (And, on a personal level, we got the joke as our original flights were cancelled. Travel insurance for the win!)
When we arrived at the market cross at five minute to ten am, we could hear the cheers from the junior jarl squad, or junior earls. Soon, the noise got louder as the Guizer Jarl and his squad of men came into the square. The Guizer Jarl does not read the proclamation, but his squad marches and sings as they make their way into the square and on through the high street. The proclamation stays posted in the square all day.
The squad proceeds to the harbour, where their Viking galley is positioned and ready for official photos. The best viewing spot is either within Fort Charlotte or on the higher ground right below the ramparts. Harbourside, while attractive, is crowded and if you’re short like me, you won’t be able to see anything. After this, the squad goes off for their official duties, and everyone else is free until the evening.
Up Helly Aa, the events
This part of the day is what most people see on the news, in photos, and on blogs. When the sun goes down and the streetlights come on, there’s an air of anticipation throughout the town. Because my friend’s nephew was part of the junior squad, we attended the junior procession, which takes place from about 5:30 to 6pm. It’s the main event on a much, much smaller scale!
At 7pm, my parents and I met back up with my friends. It was cold, windy, and wet. We had a brief chat with a former Guizer Jarl who stood outside the town hall and then took our places near the parade route. At about 7:15, the streetlights went out. A hush descended on the crowd for a minute, but soon the chatter arose again. We stood at the war memorial, just across from the town hall. The red and black raven flag flew from the town hall, not the Shetland flag.
Up Helly Aa, the fire festival
As time inched closer to 7:30, I could literally feel the anticipation building. In the darkness ahead of me, I could see squads taking their places on the street below us. At 7:31, I heard the squeal of a firework seconds before it exploded. That was the cue for the men to light their torches, and within minutes the line of men illuminated with torchlight. As far as I could see down the hillhead, the road was lined with torches. The smell of paraffin filled the air and the crowd grew silent.
Two bands struck up traditional tunes. Shetland does not have a pipe band, so the Kirkwall Pipe Band from Orkney enjoys the honour of playing, but the Lerwick brass band is the lead band. In the distance, as far as my eyes could see, the parade route was lit with the torches. No one appeared to be moving, although after a few minutes I could see movement at the far end. The band grew closer and soon I could make out the Jarl Squad and the Viking galley leading the procession.
“Three cheers for Up Helly Aa!”
We moved down to the burning ground, joining a thousand other people standing along the wall that encloses the park. No spectators are allowed on the burning ground, so a lot of people go early in order to get a good spot. Despite our early standing at the top of the hill, we still had a great view. The squads march in two lines. They go along the far side of the park, then turn and circle back along that same side, round the top of the park and go down the near side, and then enter the burning ground. Here, they circle and begin to circle the galley itself, which stands at the centre. The Guizer Jarl stands in the galley watching his men circle him with burning torches.
When all thousand men are marching in a circle around the galley, which takes a bit of time to accomplish, the Guizer Jarl says a few words and then steps down from the galley. At some unknown cue, the men begin to throw their torches into the galley. Some pitch them over the heads of guizers in front of them, and sparks fly everywhere. As men toss their torches, they moved out of the way. Soon the galley gets engulfed by the flames and it’s time to watch it burn. On some nights, with the wind and the rain, torches might go out or the rain might dowse the galley. We got lucky, despite the spitting rain and slight wind, that the the galley burned. People stay to watch the galley burn; a huge cheer went up when the mast finally toppled.
Party time!
Finally, it was time to get ready to go to the halls. Halls are a local part of Up Helly Aa, so much so that a lot of visitors don’t even know they exist. It’s difficult to get tickets – we were quite lucky – and you often have to know your hostess personally or know someone who knows them.
Halls can be anything – the town hall, a large restaurant, the rec centre, or a school. Our hostess was up at the primary school, which was a short walk from our flat. Guests pay £30 for a ticket, which includes soup, sandwiches, baked goods, tea, and coffee all night long. Anyone wishing to drink must bring their own booze and glasses, which get put into a separate room. You can’t drink in the halls, so you have to leave the dance hall to drink.
The squads makes their way from hall to hall. Since there are more and more squads each year, we had at least 3 or 4 squads arriving at the same time. They play music, dance a choreographed dance, or act a little skit. Often, once again, it’s pretty inside-joke ish. Then the onstage band will strike up a tune and the guizers will grab people from the crowd to dance. Some leave in favour of having a drink with their friends who happen to be at this hall. Dances are usually traditional dances (of which I know none!) like the Shetland reel, Canadian Barn Dance, or Slip the Willow. They’re all danced a little differently than what you might recognise from a Orcadian ceilidh or Hebridean party.
The night goes on til all squads have been to all halls, usually 8 or 9am on Wednesday! You’re not really expected to stay that whole time but as part of your ticket you usually have to take a turn in the kitchen, which might be around 4:30am. So, you should stay! The Guizer Jarl and his squad also might arrive to your hall around 7am, and that’s a show you don’t want to miss.
Attending Up Helly Aa
So, how do you attend this pyrotechnic’s dream festival? Well, it helps to know a local. In the weeks leading up to it, my friend was sending me detailed messages about what we needed to know. She is also the one who sourced the hall tickets for us, which are a little bit like gold pixie dust and very hard to get your hands on.
I definitely suggest arranging accommodation well in advance. We planned our trip late, and were very limited in our accommodation choices. Our flat, though, was in a great location … it was just very small and dark.
It’s also worth looking up what else to do in the Shetland Islands, since you’ll want to arrive a few days before (especially if flying in from overseas) and stay a day after to recover. There is (at the moment, thanks to Flybe’s cancellations) only one airline that flies into Sumburgh. You can fly in from Glasgow, Edinburgh, or Aberdeen. And, it’s also worth renting a car, which you should do well in advance as well! If you want to see Shetland ponies, explore some of the archaeological sites, or meet with local food, beverage, and craft artisans, you can do all of that in the days around Up Helly Aa.
Finally, you need to be aware of the weather. This is NOT an ideal time to visit the Shetlands, weather wise. It’s cold, although not as cold as other places on the same latitude (thanks Gulf Stream!). And it’s wet. January is the wettest month. It’s also windy. Hiking is out, most days, as is getting out on the water for more than a short ferry ride. The beach we went to was covered in snow, and the day we went to Eshaness we couldn’t get out of the car to watch the churning sea against the black cliffs. It was THAT windy.
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If all that sounds like your type of picnic weather, like it is mine, then maybe Shetland in January is Up Your Alley. (Get it!? I’m so punny.)
Have you been to Up Helly Aa? Leave any recommendations in the comments below. Not sure you’re Up for it just yet? Pin this >>> for future reference!
