The Galley

Up Helly Aa day today. A great viking fire festival to which people from all over the world come to see. It starts in the morning with the Jarl squad (the Jarl being the main man)( which I believe this year consisted of over seventy men) marching through the streets of Lerwick with the galley. In the evening there is a torchilight procession of over 1,000 men and the galley is pulled along in their midst and then taken into a park where it is burned. Then its on to dancing all night after which most of Shetland closes tomorrow. Its a fantastic spectacle and I would recommend looking for pics of the occasion. I chickened out of going to the night procession tonight as the weather was horrible. Forecasting severe gales for through the night.