2 vikings pose on galley Breckon at the 2008 Lerwick up-helly-a

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The Up-helly-a occurs every year the last Tuesday of January and although a fairly modern event it draws on Viking tradition. Roy Leask was 2008 leader or "Guizer" and picked his own squad to help parade the long ship " Breckon" through the streets of Lerwick. The ship is eventually taken to a playing field to be set alight. Around a 1000 people in total parade in costumes carrying torches and singing. Once complete the party begins as various halls are open around Lerwick. The Squads number over 40 and some travel around the halls entertaining the party goers. This tends to go on for up to 3 days.

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Size: 4922px × 3665px
Location: Lerwick Shetland Islands Great Britain
Photo credit: © Makno / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -helly-, boat, breckon, burn, dragon, festival, galley, guizar, heat, jarl, leask, long, night, parade, roy, squads, torches, tradition, uphellya, viking