South Mainland Up Helly Aa: a celebration of community spirit

In mid-March each year, something spectacular happens in Shetland’s South Mainland.

Led by a squad of locals dressed in immaculate Viking suits, an Up Helly Aa procession including hundreds of guizers carrying flaming torches, makes its way along normally peaceful roads. The procession culminates with the torches being thrown into a beautiful replica Viking galley, before it is rolled on to the sea and sent to Valhalla in an impressive pyre.

South Mainland Up Helly Aa, known as SMUHA, is one of a dozen events held around Shetland between January and March. Each is spectacular, and each is an important part of life every winter in the respective communities.

For the uninitiated, Up Helly Aa celebrates Shetland’s Norse heritage in a unique, fiery style, before a long night of celebrations. The videos below capture what the event is all about.

Away from the roars, sparks and revelry of Up Helly Aa night, the festivals are celebrated for the way they bond communities and bring people together during the dark winter months.

At the helm of each event is a Guizer Jarl, elected by fellow participants, known as guizers (because they wear disguises).

Being the Jarl at any Up Helly Aa is a privilege as Jamie Laurenson knows well. He was chosen as a future Guizer Jarl in 2015, but – thanks to covid lockdowns – has had to wait longer than most for his moment in the torchlight.

It will be an especially poignant moment as Jamie is joined by family and friends for the procession through Bigton, the village he has called home all his life.

SMUHA is unique among Shetland fire festivals in that the location changes every year, rotating between each of the five districts that make up the South Mainland of Shetland, from Gulberwick, just south of Lerwick, to Dunrossness at the southernmost point of the island.

In 2023, the procession is in Bigton and culminates with a burning at the spectacular beach tombolo at St Ninian's Ayre.

“It’s an honour to represent the district,” says Jamie. “It is a big thing for the community, bigger than I realised almost.

“People are very excited [in the weeks before the event] with the prospect of it coming back to Bigton.”

The longer-than-usual wait has even added to the anticipation, with anticipation building steadily ever since autumn when it became clear that SMUHA was set to make a post-covid return.

“From September it looked certain we were going to go ahead. That gave us an impetus to get going again and growing beards having meaning again!”

As is traditional, male Jarl’s Squad participants adopt a suitably hirsute appearance, though Jamie’s squad of 35 adults and seven children is split virtually equally between male and female Vikings.

The gatherings also present an opportunity to meet new people, even for those like Jamie who have lived their whole lives in the area.

“I have met a lot of people and made a lot of friends through being involved in all aspects of SMUHA. It has been very worthwhile. It is an amazing community event for the whole South Mainland.”

The numbers back up that claim, with dozens of squads made up of hundreds of guizers from across the area, and other parts of Shetland coming together for a night of celebration. Each of the squads will visit halls in the five SMUHA districts.

At each venue, home-made delights including soup, bannocks, cakes and fancies will be served, with music and dancing taking place into the small hours.

There is no doubt, the great community effort lights up the South Mainland, marking the imminent arrival of spring.

• South Mainland Up Helly Aa takes place annually on the second Friday in March, with the procession and burning alternating between the five districts of Gulberwick and Quarff; Sandwick; Cunningsburgh; Bigton and Levenwick; Dunrossness, on a rotating basis.

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