Event: United Kingdom

Delting Up Helly Aa (Brae)

When:	21 Mar 2008 (annual)
Where:	Brae

The Delting Up Helly Aa Viking festival, held at Brae on Shetland's mainland, is the last one of the season, and hence your last chance to engage in sacrificial ship-burning and sun-worship until next year. Make the most of it!

The event was revived by a keen schoolteacher named Bertie Mowat in 1970, who had the kids building the Viking galley in their woodwork classes. Ten years later the adults decided to join in and do it themselves.

The event begins with a procession. Along with the Vikings, more than 300 guizers (squads of costumed performers) carry flaming torches through the darkened village streets down to the shore. On their shoulders they carry a great throne, which a chosen few then carry onto the galley. Everyone flings their torch onto the ship as it is pushed out to sea and goes up in flames.

After the burning, all the different guizers make a tour of the parish halls and community centres of Brae, Mossbank and Vidlin, three local villages. In each place they perform a dance, sketch or a song. The performances are normally topical, reflecting local concerns or folk traditions. Between each performance the band strikes up the tune for Shetland Reels, Boston Two-Steps and other local dances. It's a fantastic evening for locals and visitors alike, but finding accommodation can be tricky, so call the tourist office in advance.