What do you know about Up Helly Aa? Where is Up Helly Aa held? What happens at Up Helly Aa? Why do the people celebrate the Vikings?

About Up Helly Aa Up Helly Aa is a festival held in the Shetland Islands every year on the last Tuesday of January to mark the end of winter The first festival was held in 1882 One Jarl is selected and he is in charge of the whole island for the week of Up Helly Aa...not the police!

Up Helly Aa Procession The day is filled with marches from all 45 squadrons, including a junior squadron Nearly 1000 men carry their torches through the town following the Viking Ship At the end of the procession they all throw their torches on to the ship and burn it, sending it to Valhalla Here are a few pictures of the procession...

Evening Halls and Squad Acts Following the procession the fun begins for all of the Vikings. The 45 Squads are invited to twelve halls in turn where they will each perform their act or dance routine. This starts at 9pm and ends at 8am the next day!

We have five different ‘halls’ or activities to do this afternoon... After putting on our Viking helmets, Thor’s hammer, brooches and shields we can do.. Viking ‘day in a life’ board game Word searches Colour in Viking pictures Computer games Make Viking bracelets with string ............And then we can FEAST!