Good morning my darling friends,
There's something I'd love to share with you about where I'm from. On the last Tuesday of every January we celebrate something called 'Up Helly Aa', I'm going to be updating this post with pictures and such throughout the day for you all to see, and maybe even videos if I get a bit lucky.
Up Helly Aa in the dialect of where I am from, means "up all weekend" despite it taking place on a Tuesday.
Up Helly Aa is something we prepare for all year where I'm from, there are lots of little ones in each individual area and one big one in the capital, this is the big one. People from all over the world travel towards it to see it, and it is quite spectacular.
All year galleybuilders and torch makers prepare a large Galley and over a thousand torches for the big night, you can see 2012's preparations here. I'll see if I can get a video of 2013's prep though, but it might be doubtful.
On the night there's the Jarl Squad led by the Jarl (and they spend the day parading through the town and visiting all the schools, and the local hospital) and they are chosen years in advance, the Jarl himself being chosen sometimes 20 years beforehand.
There are also roughly 50 squads who dress up as something topical to either the locals, or the country, or even the world. For example this year there's a squad called "50 Shades of Nicer Grey" and a few relating to Gangnam Style.
At 7.30PM they begin a procession around various streets in the town before pulling the galley they spent so long building into the middle of a big park and burning it, then people retire to local halls (in schools, hotels and ferry terminals abound) where the festivities continue, everyone gets rather inebriated and the squads go to each and every hall (getting drunker as they go) and perform for everyone - this will be something relating to their squad name. The party goes on until well after 10AM the next day.
I will try and show pictures as I go, and I already have some!
The Proclamation
Jarl Squad & Galley
Jarl Squad & Galley
Morning March
Guizer Jarl & Galley
Vikings (the ginger one is a dear friend of mine)
Morning Procession
If you're in the Jarl Squad you have to grow a beard for it, it is mandatory (although the young ones often can't, which is amusing to me).
And here is the evening fun;
Gathered around Galley
Jarl on Galley
Galley
Same Again
Throwing Torches on the Galley
Galley Burning
Close up
Galley Head Burning
Mast Down
Galley Head
Watching Fire
One of the traditions of Up Helly Aa when you're watching the burning is to watch until the mast falls down, and during the night when everyone else is partying people come and clear it all away so the next morning the playpark is open for use once more, and you'd never even know!
And if any of you really fancy it, there's a live webcast you can watch tonight (I know I will) at around 7.30PM GMT when the procession will begin and they will burn the galley.
I will update this page as it goes and update the thread, I don't really know if anyone is interested but it's something I adore and means a lot to me, and so I wanted to share it. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
There's something I'd love to share with you about where I'm from. On the last Tuesday of every January we celebrate something called 'Up Helly Aa', I'm going to be updating this post with pictures and such throughout the day for you all to see, and maybe even videos if I get a bit lucky.
Up Helly Aa in the dialect of where I am from, means "up all weekend" despite it taking place on a Tuesday.
Up Helly Aa is something we prepare for all year where I'm from, there are lots of little ones in each individual area and one big one in the capital, this is the big one. People from all over the world travel towards it to see it, and it is quite spectacular.
All year galleybuilders and torch makers prepare a large Galley and over a thousand torches for the big night, you can see 2012's preparations here. I'll see if I can get a video of 2013's prep though, but it might be doubtful.
On the night there's the Jarl Squad led by the Jarl (and they spend the day parading through the town and visiting all the schools, and the local hospital) and they are chosen years in advance, the Jarl himself being chosen sometimes 20 years beforehand.
There are also roughly 50 squads who dress up as something topical to either the locals, or the country, or even the world. For example this year there's a squad called "50 Shades of Nicer Grey" and a few relating to Gangnam Style.
At 7.30PM they begin a procession around various streets in the town before pulling the galley they spent so long building into the middle of a big park and burning it, then people retire to local halls (in schools, hotels and ferry terminals abound) where the festivities continue, everyone gets rather inebriated and the squads go to each and every hall (getting drunker as they go) and perform for everyone - this will be something relating to their squad name. The party goes on until well after 10AM the next day.
I will try and show pictures as I go, and I already have some!
The Proclamation
Jarl Squad & Galley
Jarl Squad & Galley
Morning March
Guizer Jarl & Galley
Vikings (the ginger one is a dear friend of mine)
Morning Procession
If you're in the Jarl Squad you have to grow a beard for it, it is mandatory (although the young ones often can't, which is amusing to me).
And here is the evening fun;
Gathered around Galley
Jarl on Galley
Galley
Same Again
Throwing Torches on the Galley
Galley Burning
Close up
Galley Head Burning
Mast Down
Galley Head
Watching Fire
One of the traditions of Up Helly Aa when you're watching the burning is to watch until the mast falls down, and during the night when everyone else is partying people come and clear it all away so the next morning the playpark is open for use once more, and you'd never even know!
And if any of you really fancy it, there's a live webcast you can watch tonight (I know I will) at around 7.30PM GMT when the procession will begin and they will burn the galley.
I will update this page as it goes and update the thread, I don't really know if anyone is interested but it's something I adore and means a lot to me, and so I wanted to share it. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
