Up Helly Aa: Lerwick's Viking fire festival postponed for second year

Lerwick’s Viking fire festival, Up Helly Aa, has been postponed for a second year running, organisers have announced.

The event’s committee said uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic had made planning for Up Helly Aa impossible.

The world-famous festival celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian Vikings in the Shetland Islands.

The event culminates with up to 1,000 guizers dressed in Viking garb throwing flaming torches into a Viking longboat and setting it alight later in the evening.

Committee secretary Robert Geddes insisted that there was not enough time to prepare for the event, despite Covid-19 restrictions easing across Scotland last month.

“Many questions remain however as to what life looks like for this type of event in the coming months and for that reason it’s unfair to put the responsibility on the hundreds of volunteers it takes to organise the festival,” he said.

The festival is next scheduled to take place on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.

A message from the Editor:

The Lerwick Up-Helly-A’ festival has been postponed for a second year running.

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