Thousands of visitors from all over the world are descending on Shetland to be part of this year’s Up Helly Aa festival.
Tourists have been arriving on planes at Sumburgh Airport and NorthLink Ferries for the fire festival – the biggest of its kind in Europe.
Some people have travelled from as far as Canada to see it for themselves.
Celebrating Shetland’s Viking heritage and Norse roots, Up Helly Aa will take place in Lerwick tonight, culminating in the burning of a galley that has been specially built to be set alight.
This year’s procession will be led by Guizer Jarl Calum Grains, whose day job is chief executive of Lerwick Port Authority.
He will be joined by family members on the day, including daughter Colleen, son Ian, his two brothers, four nieces and three nephews.
A much-anticipated event in the islands’ calendar, people from all corners of the world flock to the Northern Isles to witness it for themselves.
Retired Canadian couple Derrick Hankel, 65, and 64-year-old Micheline Lajoie travelled more than 3,000 miles from their home in Ontario to the Northern Isles for the extravaganza.
Micheline first heard about Up Helly Aa in 2018 and wanted to go in 2021, however, it was postponed that year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
They are part of a tour group and got to Shetland after visiting Ireland – where they will return to for a wedding before flying back to Canada – and spent four nights in Edinburgh.
It is their first time in the archipelago and Scotland as a whole, and Derrick said “seeing the scenery and the land is very, very exciting”, adding: “Shetland and the landscapes are just amazing. It’s striking that there are no trees here.”
Furthest north they have ever been too, the 65-year-old admits he was a “little terrified” about the thought of having to get a ferry in the stormy North Sea during winter, but to his surprise it was “pretty smooth”.
‘Overwhelming, but in an exciting sort of way’
Having travelled such a long way to see Up Helly Aa, they are very excited about tomorrow night’s spectacle.
“It’s definitely going to be a visual spectacle, the cacophony of horns and everything else is going to make it overwhelming, but in an exciting sort of way, Derrick told The P&J.
From closer to Shetland, but still a fair distance, is German couple Petra and Andreas from Hamburg.
They first came to the event in 2019, as Petra explains: “Six years ago I had my 59th birthday and my husband looked at the 59th latitude (where Sumburgh is located) and he said, ‘we fly to Up Helly Aa’.”
Couple ‘absolutely loved’ Up Helly Aa in 2019
Despite family and friends calling the pair “crazy” for wanting to go to Shetland due to it being “cold” and “far away”, they absolutely “loved it”.
So much so that this year they have brought two of their friends along to experience Up Helly Aa with them.
Walking through Lerwick town centre’s Commercial Street was a family who had gathered from various parts of the UK, including Glasgow, Peebles and Clitheroe, to celebrate a birthday.
Peter Holmes from the Borders, who turns 82 tomorrow, has “always wanted to come” to Up Helly Aa, with it being on his bucket list.
Simon Holmes who travelled from Lancashire to be with his family for the special occasion said he is looking forward to “soaking up the atmosphere and seeing it”.
Ryan Leith, who will be Guiser Jarl in 2027, told The P&J that visitor numbers to the event have “increased tenfold” in the last few years, which he described as being “great to see”.
“They come from all over, America and Australia, and I’ve spoken to people from the Far East and Asia. They all come, it’s just amazing now,” the future Jarl said.
Conversation