The Up Helly Aa fire festivals are amongst the biggest annual celebrations in Shetland and take place every year between January and March. Today is Lerwick’s Up Helly Aa, the largest of the festivals which mark the end of winter and are inspired by Shetland’s Viking past, with communities across the islands coming together for a night of guizing, where traditional Shetland music is played and torches and a Viking longship are burned. Shetland was once a Viking stronghold and the imprint they le