What does Up Helly Aa celebrate?

What does Up Helly Aa celebrate?

Up Helly Aa (meaning Up Holy Day) is a huge spectacle, a celebration of Shetland history, and a demonstration of islanders’ skills. It harks back to Shetland’s Viking heritage. As well as the main event there is a junior version, just for kids, which takes place on the same day.

How do you get to Helly Aa?

Take the ferry to Shetland The journey from Aberdeen to Shetland is an overnight one, which sets sail around teatime (often stopping in the Orkney Islands) and the ferry arrives in Shetland early the following morning. To visit Up Helly Aa you need to be in Shetland for the last Tuesday of January.

What is burned at Up Helly A?

Viking galley
Each festival involves a torchlit procession by squads of costumed participants (known as guizers) that culminates in the burning of an imitation Viking galley.

What date is Up Helly Aa?

last Tuesday in January
Welcome to the official website for Up Helly Aa, which takes place in Lerwick, Shetland, on the last Tuesday in January every year. Up Helly Aa day involves a series of marches and visitations, culminating in a torch-lit procession and the burning of a galley.

What is the name given to the person in charge of Up Helly Aa each year?

Jarl
There is a main guizer who is dubbed the “Jarl” (pron. “yarl”). There is a committee which a person must be part of for 15 years before one can be a jarl, and only one person is elected to this committee each year. The procession culminates in the torches being thrown into a replica Viking longship or galley.

How cold does it get in Shetland?

Despite being so far north, Shetland’s winters are relatively temperate due to the Gulf Stream warming the sea around the isles. The temperature in December rarely dips below freezing point, with the average temperature being around 2°C.

How often is Up Helly Aa celebrated?

last Tuesday in January every