Up Helly-Aa Halls (Lerwick)

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This article lists all the halls used in the Lerwick Up Helly-Aa fire festival.

What is a 'hall'?

A hall is where the squads (see Up Helly-Aa) visit and private parties are held. Tickets can be bought for certain halls, whereas others may require the invitation of a host or hostess.

At each hall each squad performs their own act, this may be a send-up of a popular TV show or film, a skit on local events, or singing or dancing, usually in flamboyant costume. They will do this same act in every hall. The squads then request a traditional dance before giving three cheers for the particular hall. They then leave for the next hall and repeat the sequence again. In theory, squads should spend 45-50 minutes per hall, however this is usually not the case and often squads finish a lot later than this. Squads are dispersed evenly over the halls, so they there are no long waits for acts to go on. There are usually 3-5 acts who start in the same hall and accompany each other throughout the entire evening.

Traditionally, it is viewed that women go to the halls to dance with and have supper with the guizers as they are not allowed in the squads in the Lerwick festival. However, now the halls are filled with a variety of different people, from children to tourists, male and female.