«Up Helly Aa» is a legendary Viking festival and, alongside the Shetland Folk Festival, the annual highlight of traditional customs on the Shetland Islands. Always on the last Tuesday in January, a whole day is dedicated to dressing up, fire spectacles, drinking and partying.
In months of preparatory work, a magnificent looking Viking longship is being built. This is intended from the outset to be sacrificed to the flames on the day of "Up Helly Aa" after a large torch procession with atmospheric battle songs. As soon as it gets dark, the street lamps in Lerwick are switched off. After a flare lights up over the town hall, the torches are lit. In a slow half-hour processional march, accompanied by the music of the "Lerwick Brass Band" and the "Lerwick Pipe Band", the longship with the Jarl enthroned on it is pulled towards its destination by the thousands of Viking actors in his entourage.
The model of Viking ship lighting is the fact that Viking chiefs were cremated after their death together with their longboat, the so-called «Nordic burial». The Guizer Jarl actor is of course allowed to climb out in this sequel before the flames erupt and the old song "The Norseman's Home" is sung by everyone present. After the cremation is complete, the crowds disperse and flock to the inns and dance halls, some of which are specially furnished, many of which stay open until 40 a.m. that day. The nearly one thousand "Holiday Vikings" are divided into 25 groups of around 60 people, who appear in rotation in the festival halls in order to contribute sketches or dance numbers that are as funny or wild as possible. The central figure throughout the day is the Guizer Jarl - a Shetlander who played the role of Viking chief thanks to the organization of the festival. Together with a XNUMX-strong core entourage, the Jarl Squad, he directs the procession and everything to do with the bonfire. All around, almost all public life on the islands is paralyzed for one day. As a precaution, the following Wednesday has officially been made a public holiday.
Up Helly Aa 2017
(via Bored Panda)
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