Up Helly Aa

What actually happens

The Jarl's squad — a year of preparation for one procession. Torch procession — 900 flaming brands dragged through the town.

• 01The Jarl's squad — a year of preparation for one procession.
• 02Torch procession — 900 flaming brands dragged through the town.
• 03Burning the galley — the longship, built over the autumn, destroyed in minutes.
• 04Hall-hopping — twelve acts per squad, and an obligation to stay until yours ends.

Sound of the crowd

Brass bands in the parade; fiddle and accordion in the halls. The song sung around the burning ship is the festival's fixed point and the only music that has not changed in a century.

How it survived

The first organised procession was in 1876, inspired by a Napoleonic Wars account of Norse funerals. Torches replaced tar barrels in 1889; the galley has been built annually since 1906. Eleven separate Up Helly Aa festivals now run across the Shetland calendar.