David Gifford Photography

Up Helly Aa Photos

Photo: Up Helly Aa Photos

Some good publicity for Shetland on the Guardian website homepage this weekend with an article on ‘Up Helly Aa: Europe’s largest fire festival’. I think they have it right saying, “January can be bleak … but not in Shetland, where islanders start their new year with a spectacular Viking-themed festival”.

I was standing next to David Cheskin at last year’s festival, who took the photo accompanying the Guardian article - my photo above was taken at the same time, showing the sparks flying horizontally in the strong wind.

View more Up Helly Aa photos.

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Image #581