A Shetland fire festival fit for a king

Landing into a misty dusk in Shetland we leave the plane to an ensemble of thanks to the staff on a first name basis. This is when you know you have arrived in a tight knit community. After a winding drive with pulsating blues music on Radio Shetland my experiences over the coming days would only cement this feeling.

I came with a purpose. I am on a year-long journey around the UK to document a series of encounters with ritual, tradition, and gatherings. I’m directing and filming a documentary called A Year of the King.

What started with a curious documentation of the Coronation of King Charles III in May 2023 has unravelled into an obsessive need to document the diversity of things that people gather around in Britain, to show what unites us in 2024. That includes everything from state ceremonies to mediaeval ball games, flags, folklore, religion, cultural preservation, dances, lunacy, history, and everything in between including my time in Shetland documenting one of the many Up Helly Aa events which are held here every year. You can watch a short clip of Matthew's Shetland footage below.

Identity wise we are at an interesting point post-empire, following Brexit and the Queen’s passing. My journey around the UK investigates what brings us together, asking what do we celebrate, mourn and identify with to show culturally what makes us British… or other? I’m curious as to what we look at to give our lives meaning, how do we remember who we are, who we were, and who we will become?

Arriving at my bed and breakfast in Bigton, I’m treated like family by Mary who runs the beautiful Hayhoull B+B. Together we go to the nearby Bigton Hall to help set up for the following evening's SMUHA celebrations. Like all Up Helly Aas, after a long day of ‘Viking’ visits, the torchlit procession and galley burning, a night of festivity follows.

I meet an array of individuals who make up the community and we put out chairs as a busy kitchen prepares the final bannocks and sausage rolls. An act of service for your community with a smile is what brings people together and forms the structure of community. It’s abundant in Shetland, helping to sustain a healthy life on the islands.

It’s 5.45am when my alarm rings and I’m out of bed. I head over to film the first happening, arriving into a group of torch bearers who jovially welcome me, beer in hand. I’m handed a bottle of tonic wine to open, taking a swing before passing it round. When in Rome. Only a few press and 15 lads are up for this part of the day.

We walk along the road to the sports field where the Bill is laid out and the intentions for the day are set. A day of cultural celebration, of the Nordic-British kind. After 600 years of Viking rule, Sheltand was returned to Scotland in 1469. Britain is a cultural mash up of sorts and it felt important to present this part of our history.

Throughout the morning the Jarl’s Squad and their leader for the year Leigh Smith visit schools as the children wear Viking hats and burn their own small longboat in the honour of tradition before gathering in the hall to sing songs and some banter for the Guizer Jarl. After posing for a picture at Sumburgh Hotel the Jarl’s Squad have lunch and start preparing for the evening procession.

Dark draws in and cars meander down the hills to Spiggie, the Jarl’s Squad and hundreds of guisers wearing all manner of costumes, gather and the galley (a replica longboat) is prepared for a burning.

The throng of torch bearers dressed from Vikings to pandas to crossdressing fitness instructors come together and march along the road. The heat, the smell of paraffin and the crowds which gather to watch this make it quite the spectacle as they circle around the galley shouting battle cries and singing old songs.

The jovial mood continues as the crowd marches down to the beach for the galley burning. While not the biggest Up Helly Aa, the SMUHA gathering echoes a community effort with people from all backgrounds coming together to make it happen. After much singing and shouting reminiscent of battle cries the boat is set on fire and pushed out into the sea, the crowd becomes sombre as they watch with glowing faces. A time for reflection.

In the glow of the burning galley, one of the torch bearers from the (early) morning says to me, “You’re still standing”, while another talks about how there is nothing else in the UK quite like Up Helly Aa.

As the procession ends, people retreat to their various villages and the various squads gather. Community halls which are so important to daily life begin to open for the all-night festivities to begin. At Bigton Hall they offer an all-night feast as one by one the various squads come through, in between traditional dancing, to perform a skit of some kind which can only be described as obscure, playful and… unique.

With lots of references to the ins and outs of island life, the transparency of everyone knowing everything really comes to light. To try and explain any further wouldn’t do it justice and I think it is something that must experience.

The Jarl’s Squad arrives around 2am to a tired but awaiting audience to sing a medley of songs, fill their boots and head on to one of the final few halls awaiting them.

We end the night clearing the hall and chatting before returning home at around 5am. I lie in my bed looking up at the stars through the window before quickly passing out.

With over 500GB of footage and around 45 rituals to be edited into a 90-minute film, I know I have everything I need and spend the next day partially at Haar Sauna on St Ninian’s Beach. Jumping in and out of the freezing ocean before strolling around a beautifully sunny March Day.

I leave with a full hard drive and a full heart with plans to return to the islands to show the film after it will play at film festivals.

While that could be in 2026, I look forward to the smiling familiar faces that I know will greet me, and anyone else who arrives, on my return.

Anyone interested in Matthew's film should visit @ayearoftheking on Instagramor send an email to matthew@savafilms.com