South Mainland Up Helly Aa
Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia
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The characteristic dragon head of the South Mainland Up Helly Aa.
The South Mainland Up Helly Aa is the most recent Up Helly Aa festival to be celebrated in Shetland with the inaugural year in 2010. The Up Helly Aa covers an area from Gulberwick south to Sumburgh. The subject of a South Mainland festival had been debated back and forth for many years and came close to fruition in the late 1990's but didnt quite make it off the ground. In 2009 however, discussions took a big step forward when it was announced in the 'Shetland Times' that a public meeting was organised for 22nd February 2009 to guage public interest in such an event. A fair number of folk turned up, so a steering group was formed to see if it was feasible. The original idea was to have just one hall, and perhaps four or five squads.
Interest far exceeded expectations however, and representatives from over twenty squads turned up, meaning more halls were needed. Four halls were then allocated – Bigton, Gulberwick, the Ness Boating Club and the Sandwick Social Club, but such was the demand for tickets that they all sold out very quickly - the Sandwick Social Club in just 2 hours. Cunningsburgh Hall was therefore added to try and accomodate as many folk as possible and this too sold out very quickly.
The inaugural SMUHA committee had invaluable help and assistance from the Lerwick and Delting Up Helly Aa Committees to organise the 2010 event from scratch. This included organising the halls, making the galley and trailer, making torches, setting out the procession route and burning site, finding marshals, producing and printing programmes and dealing with a host of health and safety regulations. The committee had monthly meetings during the year, as well as extra fund-raising sessions, which became a weekly meeting closer to the event.
Rather than choose a Guizer Jarl each year from anywhere in the South Mainland the inaugural committee of 2009/10 decided that the South Mainland would be split into 5 'areas' with a Guizer Jarl chosen from each. Each 'area' then takes it in turn to host the SMUHA on a 5 year rotation. The 'areas' are the main centres of population and are [approximately] Gulberwick & Quarff, Cunningsburgh & Fladdabister, Sandwick & Hoswick, Bigton & Levenwick, and Dunrossness. The order of the area's rotation are:
Bigton & Levenwick
Dunrossness
Cunningsburgh & Fladdabister
Sandwick & Hoswick
Gulberwick & Quarff
The SMUHA is held on the second Friday in March each year. During the day the years Jarl's Squad usually visit the Sound School in Lerwick, Cunningsburgh Primary School, Sandwick Junior High School, Dunrossness Primary School, the Sumburgh Hotel and the Overtonlea Care Home at Levenwick. The location of the Bill varies each year and wherever it is placed the Jarl's Squad also visit during the day. A new galley is built each year for the festival and the galley accompanies the Jarl's Squad on their visits, apart from the Overtonlea Care Home.
Five halls are currently used for the evening Guizing: Bigton Hall, Cunningsburgh Hall, Gulberwick Community Hall, Ness Boating Club and the Sandwick Social Club. The Guizers Hop night is the following night at the Cunningsburgh Hall.
South Mainland Up Helly Aa by Year
Articles on the events are available by clicking on the year links.
| Year | Jarl | Representing | No.in Squad | Galley Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Kevin Adamson |
Björn Brynjolfson (Björn of Mousa) |
38 |
Holdfast |
Future Jarls
- 2013 Dale Smith (Sandwick & Hoswick)
- 2014 Keith Lobban (Gulberwick & Quarff)
- 2015 Lesley Simpson (1st ever prospective female Guizer Jarl - Bigton & Levenwick)
- 2016 Scott Lobban (Dunrossness)
Shield Photos
All shield photos by Kozetland1.
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External Links
