Up Helly Aa

Up Helly Aa (/ˌʌp hɛli ˈɑː/ UP-hel-ee-AH; literally "Up Holy [Day] All") is a type of fire festival held annually from January to March in various communities in Shetland, Scotland to mark the end of the yule season. Each festival involves a torchlit procession by squads of costumed participants (known as guizers) that culminates in the burning of an imitation Viking galley. The largest festival held in Lerwick, Shetland's capital, involves a procession of up to a thousand guizers who march through the streets of Lerwick on the last Tuesday in January. The other rural festivals (known as the 'country' Up Helly Aas) see lower numbers of participants in accordance with their lower populations.

Up Helly Aa

Up Helly Aa (/ˌʌp hɛli ˈɑː/ UP-hel-ee-AH; literally "Up Holy [Day] All") is a type of fire festival held annually from January to March in various communities in Shetland, Scotland to mark the end of the yule season. Each festival involves a torchlit procession by squads of costumed participants (known as guizers) that culminates in the burning of an imitation Viking galley. The largest festival held in Lerwick, Shetland's capital, involves a procession of up to a thousand guizers who march through the streets of Lerwick on the last Tuesday in January. The other rural festivals (known as the 'country' Up Helly Aas) see lower numbers of participants in accordance with their lower populations.