Overview
- The 2026 festival took place in Lerwick on Tuesday, January 27, culminating after dark with the ceremonial burning of a Viking longship.
- Guizer Jarl Lynden Nicolson led the Jarl Squad through the day’s engagements before fronting the torchlit procession.
- More than 1,000 torch-bearing participants marched in the main procession, alongside a separate Junior Up Helly Aa for youngsters.
- Local volunteers constructed the imitation galley and produced over 1,000 torches used during the spectacle.
- Residents and visitors lined the streets and later filled halls across town, with the event captured extensively in press photography.