Community / Up Helly Aa 2025 – Jarl Calum’s big day finally underway
CALUM Grains is savouring his big day as guizer jarl, with the Lerwick Up Helly Aa festival bringing hundreds to the streets of the town.
Grains, who is the chief executive of Lerwick Port Authority, and his squad of 61 guizers left Islesburgh just after 8am this morning before a busy day of visits and revelry.
Among his squad are his son Ian and daughter Colleen, along with his two brothers, four nieces and three nephews.
Representing King Eystein Magnusson, Grains – who is taking part in his fourth jarl squad, having been involved in 2009, 2011 and 2016 – said earlier this month the experience of leading the famous fire festival was “humbling”.
But the guizer jarl, whose squad is known as the Whiteness and Weisdale squad, said this year had been a “different feeling to everything I’ve done before”.
“It’s an awfully humbling experience,” he said. “Since the mass meeting time everything becomes a bit more surreal.
“I feel like it’s gone really quickly.”
The squad has been working around the clock to prepare for their big day, and Grains said he felt their suit looked “fantastic”.
His partner Melanie Henderson said she was “really, really chuffed with the suit” – which all of the family have been involved in crafting.
“We’ve been making kirtles three or four nights a week, which has been one of the special bits for me and Colleen,” Melanie said.
“It’s been absolutely brilliant all making and working together, cutting, pressing and stitching.”
See also:
Lerwick jarl Grains says having family walk beside him will make Up Helly Aa ‘special’
Grains is joined on Up Helly Aa day by the chief executives of the Stornoway and Montrose port authorities.
Tom Hutchison and Alex MacLeod, of Montrose and Stornoway respectively, will take part in the festivities.
Hutchison said he was “deeply honoured” to be involved, MacLeod said it will be “truly special to witness firsthand the passion and spirit of the community that Up Helly Aa represents”.
Adding to the maritime connections in the jarl squad are Grains’ Lerwick Port Authority colleagues Victor Sandison and Alexander Simpson.
They are not the furthest travelled squad members, though, with one family coming from New Zealand and another member journeying up from the south of England.
The jarl squad will visit a number of Lerwick schools and care homes this afternoon, before going to the Shetland Museum – where visitors will get the chance to see them up close, and maybe even hold an axe, shield or helmet.
The star attraction for many will be the night time procession, starting at 7.30pm, which sees around 1,000 guizers take to Lerwick streets with flaming torches before burning the galley.
Grains will then take his squad around 11 halls, where dancing and revelry will continue until the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile Fin Hatrick is this year’s Junior Up Helly Aa jarl.
The junior squad also has a busy day ahead, with visit to a number of schools, the NorthLink ferry terminal and Mareel among the plans.
Their ‘peerie galley’ will be on view at the Clickimin overspill car park from 8.15am to 11am and outside the Shetland Museum and Archives at Hay’s Dock from 11.45am to 2.45pm.
Please refresh this page regularly as more photos will be added throughout the morning.
Photo: Malcolm Younger/MIllgaet Media
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