Up Helly Aa - the subarctic viking fire festival held in Shetland (there is actually about 4 of them held on the different islands in Shetland) where Vikings parade the streets with flaming torches with the goal of burning a longboat to the ground and get absolutely pished in the town halls until about 8am (or later) the following day. There is even a public holiday the next day so no one has to bother about setting an alarm to call in sick.
We traveled down to Lerwick to see the festival that famously doesn't stop for the weather. Unfortunately, the inter-island ferries do. So...we pretty much missed the whole thing.
We were forced to leave mid-afternoon else be stranded on the mainland overnight with no accommodation and no tickets to the drinking halls. Seeing as it was literally 'blowadogoffhischain' weather, we decided not to seek shelter between two dumpsters for the night and catch one of the last ferries back at around 4pm.
However, our story has a happy ending! Firstly, our buddy Kate got us a lift all the way back home with a tour guide (who is awesome). So not only did we get a free guided tour of the islands on our way home, but she also sweet talked our way up onto the captains deck on one of the inter-island ferries. It was totally like the bridge on Star Trek!
AND that's not all. Unst has it's own Up Helly Aa festival in February...and the weather was perfect, and our buddy Moray (Aussie lady we met at the haggis-eating festival) very kindly picked us up and took us to it. It was great! Not only was it a bonfire of epic proportions (the heat thrown out cooked our face-meat), but seeing as the crowds were a lot smaller we actually got to see everything and didn't have to find a vantage point for the night like the Lerwick festival. In Lerwick you aren't allowed anywhere near the boat burning either, you have to view it from afar. On Unst, you could wrap up potatoes in foil and throw them in if you wanted.
In a nutshell: Up Helly Aa =
Ingredients
1 Guizer Jarl / head viking (a dude who knows he will play this role from a wee boy, he takes on the persona of a particular viking for the day)
1 Jarl Squad / vikings (group of around 10-20 dudes dressed as Vikings who are the Guizer Jarls groupies/backup dancers)
Several hundred randoms dressed as anything from robots, cowboys, or giant babies.
A very generous helping of flamboyant men dressed as women.
Enough flaming torches for each person.
Enough booze to get each torchbearer suitably messy.
Method
Combine torchbearers with booze until mixed through. Be careful not to over stir at this point. Allow the Jarls to visit local schools, parade the streets then have a fancy lunch whilst you treat yourself to a sherbet yourself. Separate out each torchbearer onto a flat surface, and decorate with a torch. Once the torchbearers have had time to rest, light each of the torches and get the fuck out of the kitchen. The torchbearers (led by the Jarls) will then parade around trying not to set the person in front of them on fire, before surrounding a custom made longboat. They will then file past and throw their torch into the boat. At this point, it's all very chef-y with the fire and the loud 'WHOOOSH'ing. Then it's customary to stand and watch until the dragon head and mast collapse on the boat. Once the mast has collapsed, proceed to the hall for which you hold a ticket for. Get mashed. This recipe also works well if doubled or halved.
We didn't attend the mashing in the halls, however we hear it's a massive night/morning of drinking, funny skits and performances.
There is another Up Helly Aa on Yell (the island in-between us and Mainland) tomorrow. I don't think we will go...however we will have access to a car tomorrow to drive around and actually see some of this rock that we've been living on for over a month.
So tape those eyelids open people, photos are coming!
