Women took half in a historic Viking pageant torchlight procession for the primary time final night time.
Up Helly Aa in Lerwick, Shetland, started within the Eighties however solely allowed ladies and ladies to affix the Jarl Squad and lead the torchlight procession for the primary time this 12 months.
More than 1,000 torches are lit on the final Tuesday in January as two processions, one within the morning and a second within the night, happen.
Women took half in a historic Viking pageant torchlight procession for the primary time final night time
Up Helly Aa in Lerwick, Shetland, started within the Eighties however solely allowed ladies and ladies to affix the Jarl Squad final night time
Women wearing Viking-style clothes had been additionally allowed to steer the torchlight procession for the primary time this 12 months
Pictured: Some of the first-ever ladies to participate within the historic procession final night time
Members of the Up Helly Aa ‘arl Squad set hearth to their ship throughout a parade by means of the streets of in Lerwick, Shetland
Each 12 months, greater than 1,000 torches are lit on the final Tuesday in January as two processions, one within the morning and a second within the night, happen
People’s faces had been lit up by the flames and little question felt the extreme warmth upon their faces
The Viking-style ship was painted in shades of blue – however was all the time destined to be burnt
Jenna Moar, 16, was one of many first feminine individuals of this 12 months’s Jarl Squad
Jenna Moar, 16, was one of many first feminine individuals of this 12 months’s Jarl Squad.
Her father Richard Moar, 47, is the chief jarl.
The organisation is run by a voluntary committee of 17 members, every chosen by the guizers – or costumed individuals – with one new member elected every year.
The members don Viking-style clothes for the occasion, which celebrates Shetland’s Norse heritage.
She joined the lads to throw their torches onto the ship, setting hearth to it
The members don Viking-style clothes for the occasion, which celebrates Shetland’s Norse heritage
Before night time fell, the Up Helly Aa ‘Jarl Squad’ posed with their axes and shields
An imitation Viking galley ship, referred to as Ethena, together with Guizer Jarl’s squad and a brass band led a procession with 46 different squads in fancy costume behind them
The ship was quickly surrounded by men and women with flaming torches on Tuesday night
Men had been seen with classical headgear and huge axes as they joined the historic procession
The galley ship Ethena rapidly set alight when women and men threw their flaming torches onto it
One particular person’s headgear was silhouetted in opposition to the burning stays of the ship
The blustering wind swirled most of the sparks from the blaze up into the night time sky
In 1949, the pageant turned a extremely organised occasion for the primary time, after years of ad-hoc celebrations.
Guizer Jarl Mr Moar has been concerned within the pageant since 1990, together with his first style of guizing that 12 months as a fiddlebox service – individuals who carry musical devices.
Three of his nieces are additionally concerned within the Jarl Squad.
At 7.30pm, fireworks had been be set off to sign the lighting of torches.
An imitation Viking galley ship, referred to as Ethena, together with Guizer Jarl’s squad and a brass band led a procession with 46 different squads in fancy costume behind them.
In 1949, the pageant turned a extremely organised occasion for the primary time, after years of ad-hoc celebrations
A younger man is lit up with a purple glow because the festivities get underway in Shetland
Guizer Jarl Mr Moar has been concerned within the pageant since 1990, together with his first style of guizing that 12 months as a fiddlebox service – individuals who carry musical devices
Three of his nieces are additionally concerned within the Jarl Squad
At 7.30pm, fireworks had been be set off to sign the lighting of torches
A member of the Junior Up Helly Aa reacts in the course of the parade by means of the streets of in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on January 30, 2024
Up Helly Aa celebrates the affect of the Scandinavian Vikings within the Shetland Islands
It culminates with as much as 1,000 guizers throwing flaming torches into their Viking longboat and setting it alight within the night