Women and girls join procession for first time at Shetland’s Up Helly Aa fire festival

The key element in a Viking festival has embraced female participants for the first time.

Up Helly Aa in Lerwick, Shetland, began in the 1880s but it only allowed women and girls to join the Jarl Squad and lead the torchlight procession for the first time in 2024.

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.

Those in attendance don Viking-style clothing for the event, which celebrates Shetland’s Norse heritage.