Lerwick Up Helly News Today

THE CONSULTATION on the Lerwick alcohol byelaw has now opened online. The current byelaw prohibits the consumption of alcohol in Lerwick, unless in a licensed...

Grab your ax and head to your longship as LiveNOW celebrates the Scottish Shetland Islands' Nordic heritage. 

Grab your ax and head to your longship as LiveNOW celebrates the Scottish Shetland Islands' Nordic heritage. 

SCOTT Goudie has been elected as the latest committee member for the Lerwick Up Helly Aa. It means he will take on the guizer jarl role in 2039. Goudie was given the committee role at Up Helly Aa’s mass meeting on Tuesday night. The 33-year-old said Up Helly Aa has been a...

Colleagues pay tribute to cameraman John Waters who died last week

“ONE thing that always amuses me is that the only squad that doesn’t have fiddle box carriers is the jarl squad,” says accordion player Peter Wood, “so when it comes to Up Helly Aa you’re carrying stuff about with you for 24 hours, and you’re out in all weathers.”...

Organisers ‘blown away’ by the response

SHETLAND Islands Council’s (SIC) outgoing convener Malcolm Bell has hit back at a campaigner who has accused the local authority of breaching its duties under equalities legislation by hosting civic receptions for Lerwick Up Helly Aa. Scalloway resident Peter Hamilton is...

I have been reading with a lot of interest the current debate surrounding the Lerwick Up Helly Aa. As a woman who has never felt that her gender was a disadvantage to anything, who works in a predominantly male industry – agriculture - I am disgusted at the sexism and bias...

It appears that some participants in the Up Helly Aa debate appear to consider that the views of people who are not ‘Shetlanders’ are of less importance than those who are. Before briefly stating my views on the subject I would declare that I was born in Shetland 69 years...