The Lerwick Up Helly Aa is the largest Viking Fire Festival in Europe. It is held every year on January 25 in Lerwick, Scotland.
Lerwick is in the Shetland Islands, in the North Sea, about 160 km from the northern coast of Great Britain.
This fire festival goes back to an ancient custom of burning a Viking galley as a sacrifice to the sun. For the Lerwick Up Helly Aa thousands of Scotland rush to the Shetland Islands of Scotland, drawn from the tradition of Viking culture (information www.uphellyaa.org).
david kingstrom
