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Up Helly Aa: Viking-inspired fire festival lights up Scottish island

The streets of Lerwick, Scotland, are once again filled with fire and smoke as Shetland holds its world famous Up Helly Aa fire festival to celebrate Shetland's Norse heritage.

Published: January 29, 2025 at 12:30PM EST

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Up Helly Aa festival The Jarl Squad take part in the torch procession through Lerwick on the Shetland Isles during the Up Helly Aa festival. Originating in the 1880s, the festival celebrates Shetland's Norse heritage. More than 1,000 torches are lit on the last Tuesday in January as two processions, one in the morning and a second in the evening, take place. Picture date: Tuesday January 28, 2025. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images) (Jane Barlow - PA Images)

Up Helly Aa festival The Jarl Squad take part in the torch procession through Lerwick on the Shetland Isles during the Up Helly Aa festival. Originating in the 1880s, the festival celebrates Shetland's Norse heritage. More than 1,000 torches are lit on the last Tuesday in January as two processions, one in the morning and a second in the evening, take place. Picture date: Tuesday January 28, 2025. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images) (Jane Barlow - PA Images)

Up Helly Aa festival A small Viking galley is set on fire during the youth Up Helly Aa night parade on January 28, 2025 in Lerwick, Scotland. The fire festival marks the end of the Yule season in Shetland, with the largest such celebration involving a torchlit procession in Lerwick, Shetland's capital, and the burning of a model Viking ship. Smaller Up Helly Aa celebrations also take place in more rural parts of Shetland. (Photo by Jacob Xu/Getty Images)

Up Helly Aa festival Participants known as guizers take part in the Up Helly Aa night parade on January 28, 2025 in Lerwick, Scotland. The fire festival marks the end of the Yule season in Shetland, with the largest such celebration involving a torchlit procession in Lerwick, Shetland's capital, and the burning of a model Viking ship. Smaller Up Helly Aa celebrations also take place in more rural parts of Shetland. (Photo by Jacob Xu/Getty Images)

Up Helly Aa festival A Viking galley is burned during the annual Up Helly Aa festival on January 28, 2025 in Lerwick, Scotland. The fire festival marks the end of the Yule season in Shetland, with the largest such celebration involving a torchlit procession in Lerwick, Shetland's capital, and the burning of a model Viking ship. Smaller Up Helly Aa celebrations also take place in more rural parts of Shetland. (Photo by Jacob Xu/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Up Helly Aa festival Guizer Jarl of the Up Helly Aa 'Jarl Squad' Calum Grains (C) parades through the streets of Lerwick, Shetland Islands on January 28, 2025 before the Up Helly Aa festival later in the day. Up Helly Aa celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian Vikings in the Shetland Islands and culminates with up to 1,000 'guizers' (men in costume) throwing flaming torches into their Viking longboat and setting it alight later in the evening. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images) (ANDY BUCHANAN)

Up Helly Aa festival Members of the Jarl Squad parade through Lerwick on the Shetland Isles during the Up Helly Aa festival. Originating in the 1880s, the festival celebrates Shetland's Norse heritage. More than 1,000 torches are lit on the last Tuesday in January as two processions, one in the morning and a second in the evening, take place. Picture date: Tuesday January 28, 2025. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images) (Jane Barlow - PA Images)

Up Helly Aa festival Guizer Jarl Calum Grains and the Jarl Squad with the galley by the harbour in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles during the Up Helly Aa festival. Originating in the 1880s, the festival celebrates Shetland's Norse heritage. More than 1,000 torches are lit on the last Tuesday in January as two processions, one in the morning and a second in the evening, take place. Picture date: Tuesday January 28, 2025. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images) (Jane Barlow - PA Images)