Shetland - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 373

UP HELLY AA
On the last Tuesday in January, Lerwick plays host to Up Helly-Aa ( W uphellyaa.org), the
largest of the fire festivals held in Shetland (Jan-March). Around nine hundred torchbearing
participants, all male and all in extraordinary costumes, march in procession. The annually
appointed Guizer Jarl and his “squad” appear as Vikings brandishing shields and silver axes;
the other squads are dressed randomly as giant insects, space invaders, ballet dancers and
the like. They all congregate at the King George V Playing Field where, after due ceremony, the
torches are thrown into the longship. A firework display follows, then the squads to do the
rounds of a dozen “halls” (including the Town Hall) from around 8.30pm until the early house,
giving comic performances at each.
Up Helly-Aa dates from Victorian times, when it was introduced to replace the banned
Christmas tradition of rolling burning tar-barrels through the streets. Although this is
essentially a community event with entry by invitation only, visitors are welcome at the Town
Hall - contact the tourist To ce in advance. To find out more, head over to the Galley Shed
(May to mid-Aug Tues 2-4 & 7-9pm, Fri 7-9pm, Sat 2-4pm; £3), on St Sunniva St, where you
can view this year's longship and the costumes, shields and photographs.

Town Hall
HIllhead • Mon-Thurs 9am-5pm, Fri 9am-4pm • Free • T 01595 693535, W shetland.gov.uk
The Victorian new town, on the hill above the harbour, is dominated by the
splendid Town Hall , a Scottish Baronial monument to civic pride, built by public
subscription. Providing there are no functions going on, you are free to wander
round the building to admire the stained-glass windows in the main hall, which
celebrate Shetland's history, and to climb the castellated central tower that occupies
the town's highest point.

8

Shetland Museum
Hay's Dock • Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm • Free • T 01595 695057, W shetland-museum.org.uk
Lerwick's chief tourist sight is the Shetland Museum , housed in a stylishly modern
waterfront building, off Commercial Road. The permanent exhibition begins in the
Lower Gallery, where you'll find replicas of the hoard of Pictish silver found at
St Ninian's Isle (see p.383); the Monks Stone, thought to show the arrival of
Christianity in Shetland; and a block of butter, tax payment for the King of Norway,
found preserved in a peat bog. Kids can try grinding flour with a quern stone, and visit
a dark “trowie knowe” where the trows live. Among the boats artistically suspended in
the Boat Hall is a sixareen (see p.395), once used as a mailboat to Foula. The Upper
Gallery concentrates on the last two centuries of the islands' social history, from
knitting and whaling to the oil industry. The museum also houses Da Gadderie, which
puts on temporary art exhibitions, runs the excellent Hay's Dock café and puts on
events, demonstrations and shows archive films. Meanwhile, out on the waterfront,
the wacky Shetland Receivers emit snippets of Shetland conversation.

Böd of Gremista
May-Sept Tues-Sat noon-4pm • £2 • T 01595 694386, W shetlandtextilemuseum.wordpress.com
Just beyond Lerwick's main ferry terminal, a mile and a half north of the town centre,
stands the Böd of Gremista , the birthplace of Arthur Anderson (1792-1868), naval
seaman, businessman, philanthropist, Shetland's first native MP and founder of
Shetland's first newspaper, the Shetland Journal . The building has been completely
restored and now houses the Shetland Textile Museum , which puts on special
exhibitions on the heritage of the islands' knitting culture.