The Burn

Made it to Shetland just in time for Up Helly Aa.

The more-than-slightly-bleak weather recently has been playing havoc with the ferries to/from Aberdeen. The Sunday night boat from Aberdeen was cancelled, as was the Tuesday night one, but fortunately one boat filled to the gunwales with Up Helly Aa revellers did make it through on Monday night.

And despite pretty rough weather during the day, the rain did at least relent for long enough to let both Up Helly Aa processions and burnings happen in the dry.

Today's blip is towards the end of the main procession, as 800 (or so) flaming torches get thrown onto the long boat. I've seen several Up Helly Aa celebrations over the last few year, and they are always wonderfully dramatic.

UPDATE: And I've now posted more images from Up Helly Aa on Flickr.

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