Up Helly Aa is a traditional festival of fire in Shetland, an archipelago off the northern coast of Scotland. The spectacular annual event celebrates the influence of the Vikings who invaded the islands around 1,200 years ago.
This year's festivities came to a climax on Tuesday evening when around 1,000 'guizers' — men dressed in Viking armor — hauled a longboat through the streets of Lerwick and then hurled their flaming torches aboard the ship to set it ablaze.
