What happens to the Viking galley at the end?

Torches are thrown in to burn it

What changed in 2023?

Women and girls could join the squads

What happens after the burning?

Parties in halls through the night

Up Helly Aa Quiz: Shetland's Viking Fire Festival

This Up Helly Aa quiz marches with the torches through Lerwick on a dark January night. Play 10 interactive questions on the last Tuesday in January, the Guizer Jarl and his Jarl Squad, about 1,000 torches, the burning galley, tar-barrel roots in the 1800s, Shetland's Norse past, women joining squads in 2023, all-night parties and village fire festivals.

Start Up Helly Aa Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Place
Where is the main Up Helly Aa held?
Date
When is Lerwick's Up Helly Aa held?
Leader
Who leads the festival dressed as a Viking chief?
Squad
What is the leader's team called?
Torches
About how many torches are carried in the procession?
Galley
What happens to the Viking galley at the end?
Roots
Which older custom came before the galley burning?
Norse
Until 1469, which kingdom ruled Shetland?
Change
What changed in 2023?
Night
What happens after the burning?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where is the main Up Helly Aa held?
Answer: Lerwick, Shetland
Lerwick is Shetland's capital.
Q2: When is Lerwick's Up Helly Aa held?
Answer: The last Tuesday in January
It lights up the winter dark.
Q3: Who leads the festival dressed as a Viking chief?
Answer: The Guizer Jarl
He takes a Norse saga name.
Q4: What is the leader's team called?
Answer: The Jarl Squad
They wear handmade costumes.
Q5: About how many torches are carried in the procession?
Answer: About 1,000
The streets glow orange.
Q6: What happens to the Viking galley at the end?
Answer: Torches are thrown in to burn it
Builders spend months on it.
Q7: Which older custom came before the galley burning?
Answer: Rolling burning tar barrels
It was rowdy and was replaced.
Q8: Until 1469, which kingdom ruled Shetland?
Answer: Norway and Denmark
Shetland was pledged to Scotland.
Q9: What changed in 2023?
Answer: Women and girls could join the squads
Rules had long excluded them.
Q10: What happens after the burning?
Answer: Parties in halls through the night
Squads visit each hall to perform.

Torches, Galleys and Shetland's Norse Pride

Up Helly Aa is a fire festival held in Lerwick, the capital of Shetland, on the last Tuesday in January. It celebrates the islands' Norse heritage, since Shetland was ruled by Norway and Denmark until 1469. Older rowdy customs of rolling burning tar barrels gave way to the galley burning in the late 1800s.

The Guizer Jarl, who takes a name from Norse sagas, leads his Jarl Squad in handmade Viking costumes. After dark, about 1,000 torchbearers march through the streets, then throw their torches into a replica Viking galley that volunteers have spent months building, sending flames high into the night.

Afterward, squads visit halls across town to perform skits and dance until morning. For many years only men could march in squads, but in 2023 women and girls joined for the first time. Smaller fire festivals are also held in villages across Shetland through late winter.

What This Quiz Teaches

Festival fans will enjoy these questions.

When it happens
Who leads it
What happens to the galley
Which history it celebrates
How it has changed

Did You Know?

Shetland is closer to Norway's coast than to London.
Spectators line the streets despite winter weather.
The galley takes months of volunteer work.
Shetland dialect has many Norse words.
Some people book trips years ahead to watch.