UP HELLY AA

Lerwick’s winter gathering

Up Helly Aa fills Ler­wick with a par­tic­u­lar kind of win­ter ener­gy: antic­i­pa­tion in the morn­ing, move­ment through the streets, a sud­den glow of torch­es after dark and cel­e­bra­tions that con­tin­ue indoors. Its most famil­iar image is a Norse-inspired gal­ley sur­round­ed by fire. Yet the event makes more sense when you also notice the peo­ple wait­ing for a rel­a­tive, the musi­cians keep­ing time and the vol­un­teers man­ag­ing anoth­er busy part of the day.

This is a Shet­land com­mu­ni­ty tra­di­tion with vis­i­tors wel­come as spec­ta­tors. It belongs to a work­ing town, not a fes­ti­val site opened sole­ly for trav­ellers. Shops, homes, schools and the water­front form part of its set­ting. Leave time to look around Ler­wick, lis­ten to local expla­na­tions and under­stand why a famil­iar street or a par­tic­u­lar squad mat­ters to some­one who lives here.

A modern tradition with older influences

The mod­ern fes­ti­val devel­oped in the nine­teenth cen­tu­ry. Ear­li­er win­ter rev­el­ry in Ler­wick includ­ed tar-bar­rel cel­e­bra­tions; dur­ing the lat­er nine­teenth cen­tu­ry, organ­ised guiz­ing and a torch­light pro­ces­sion helped shape a dif­fer­ent event. Norse themes were added as the fes­ti­val evolved. The first gal­ley appeared in 1889, and the title Guiz­er Jarl fol­lowed in 1906.

That his­to­ry mat­ters. Up Helly Aa is not an unin­ter­rupt­ed Viking-era cer­e­mo­ny, and its burn­ing is not a reen­act­ment of a his­tor­i­cal raid. Its imagery express­es a lat­er rela­tion­ship with Shetland’s Norse past. Con­tem­po­rary tra­di­tions can car­ry deep mean­ing with­out being ancient in their present form; here, their strength also lies in adap­ta­tion and local own­er­ship.

The Guizer Jarl and Jarl Squad

The Guiz­er Jarl is the chief guiz­er and leads the Jarl Squad. This is the group most close­ly asso­ci­at­ed with the festival’s Norse-inspired dress, dis­tinc­tive shields and care­ful­ly designed out­fits. The Jarl’s role is both cer­e­mo­ni­al and intense­ly prac­ti­cal: the day involves march­ing, appear­ances and a sequence of vis­its, fol­lowed by the evening pro­ces­sion and hall com­mit­ments.

The Jarl Squad is a par­tic­u­lar group with­in a much larg­er fes­ti­val. Do not use “Vikings” as a blan­ket label for every­one car­ry­ing a torch. Look for the dif­fer­ences between the Jarl Squad’s shared design and the char­ac­ters cho­sen by oth­er squads. A day­time appear­ance can be a bet­ter oppor­tu­ni­ty than the crowd­ed evening to appre­ci­ate the work­man­ship, pro­vid­ed you remain out­side any cor­don.

Guizers, squads and a year of preparation

A guiz­er takes part in dis­guise or char­ac­ter, usu­al­ly with a squad whose mem­bers devel­op an out­fit and an act togeth­er. The wider squads are cen­tral to the event: humour, top­i­cal ideas and per­for­mance sit along­side the more for­mal imagery of the Jarl Squad. Treat­ing them as back­ground cos­tume enter­tain­ment miss­es the friend­ships and effort that hold the fes­ti­val togeth­er.

Prepa­ra­tion reach­es well beyond Jan­u­ary. The com­mit­tee describes win­ter work on the gal­ley and torch­es, squad meet­ings, mak­ing out­fits and prac­tis­ing hall per­for­mances. For a vis­i­tor, the use­ful ques­tion is not sim­ply how many torch­es will be lit, but how so many peo­ple coor­di­nate their time. The pro­ces­sion is a vis­i­ble result of com­mit­ments made long before you arrive.

The galley as a shared work of craft

The gal­ley is built and paint­ed by local vol­un­teers. Its drag­on-head­ed shape gives the pro­ces­sion a focus, while its colours relate to that year’s Jarl Squad. See­ing it in day­light reveals details that torch­light can hide: paint­ed dec­o­ra­tion, shields and the scale of the struc­ture. These are worth observ­ing before the evening trans­forms the scene.

The fact that it will be burned does not make it dis­pos­able in the ordi­nary sense. Build­ing some­thing for a brief pub­lic life can be part of the mean­ing of a cel­e­bra­tion. Look close­ly, but do not touch the gal­ley or step into a work­ing area for a pho­to­graph. A bar­ri­er may be pro­tect­ing equip­ment, access or an offi­cial pho­to­graph rather than mark­ing a con­ve­nient place to lean.

Torchlight through the town

The evening brings togeth­er the sep­a­rate squads and the gal­ley. Street light­ing is switched off for the pro­ces­sion, giv­ing the torch­light a strik­ing pres­ence against Lerwick’s build­ings. From a pub­lic view­ing posi­tion you can appre­ci­ate the scale, move­ment and sound with­out need­ing to stand at the very front. A clear view is use­ful; a safe exit and room for the pro­ces­sion are essen­tial.

Lis­ten as well as watch. Singing and the rhythm of the march give the pro­ces­sion a col­lec­tive char­ac­ter that a sin­gle flame pho­to­graph can­not con­vey. Keep con­ver­sa­tions and cam­era move­ments con­sid­er­ate of those around you. If the crowd is too dense, choose a less pres­sured place rather than try­ing to push into a gap as the pro­ces­sion approach­es.

The burning and what follows

The gal­ley burn­ing is a dra­mat­ic cul­mi­na­tion of the out­door pro­ces­sion. The organ­is­ers exclude the pub­lic and press from the burn­ing site itself, so vis­i­tors must watch from out­side the con­trolled area. Fol­low stew­ards and police, stay behind bar­ri­ers and accept that the best-look­ing angle in an old pho­to­graph may not be an avail­able spec­ta­tor posi­tion today.

The burn­ing is not the end of the fes­ti­val for the squads. They con­tin­ue into halls, where per­for­mances, music and danc­ing car­ry the cel­e­bra­tion through the night. This indoor life is an impor­tant part of under­stand­ing Up Helly Aa, even if you do not attend it. A vis­i­tor can enjoy a com­plete pub­lic evening with­out assum­ing a right to fol­low par­tic­i­pants into pri­vate venues.

Halls, hosts and legitimate access

Hall cel­e­bra­tions depend on vol­un­teers and hosts as well as the vis­it­ing squads. An act may make sense through local ref­er­ences, shared humour or a famil­iar piece of music. Guests join a social occa­sion with its own expec­ta­tions; it is not sim­ply an after-par­ty attached to a pub­lic spec­ta­cle. Arrive pre­pared to lis­ten and par­tic­i­pate con­sid­er­ate­ly if you have a valid invi­ta­tion or tick­et.

Tick­et arrange­ments vary by hall. The committee’s Town Hall page is the place to watch for its pub­lic appli­ca­tion process, while oth­er hosts man­age their own invi­ta­tions and admis­sion. A hall being list­ed as open for the fes­ti­val does not mean it accepts walk-ins. Ver­i­fy access before plan­ning your night, and keep your accom­mo­da­tion and return jour­ney inde­pen­dent of a hoped-for tick­et.

A living and changing Shetland tradition

Par­tic­i­pa­tion has changed over time. From 2023, Lerwick’s squads could be organ­ised with­out gen­der restric­tions, as the committee’s his­to­ry explains. State that devel­op­ment plain­ly rather than pre­sent­ing an old­er all-male descrip­tion as the cur­rent rule. The festival’s his­to­ry includes change as well as con­ti­nu­ity, and the peo­ple main­tain­ing it con­tin­ue to decide how it moves for­ward.

Oth­er Shet­land com­mu­ni­ties hold their own fire fes­ti­vals on dif­fer­ent dates, with indi­vid­ual iden­ti­ties and arrange­ments. They should not be treat­ed as inter­change­able copies of Ler­wick. Check the rel­e­vant local organ­is­er if extend­ing your vis­it. The strongest expe­ri­ence comes from under­stand­ing Up Helly Aa as a liv­ing com­mu­ni­ty tra­di­tion, not sim­ply a spec­tac­u­lar fire event: notice the craft, respect the bound­aries and give the wider place your atten­tion.

When Up Helly Aa Happens

The next Ler­wick Up Helly Aa is Tues­day 26 Jan­u­ary 2027. The committee’s cur­rent 2027 out­line pro­gramme takes prece­dence over its gen­er­al pages where tim­ings dif­fer. All times below are local Shet­land time (GMT in Jan­u­ary); recon­firm the pro­gramme and any changes before trav­el­ling.

Lerwick

The main cel­e­bra­tion takes place in Ler­wick, Shetland’s prin­ci­pal town. Plan around the town cen­tre, water­front, Hill­head and the con­trolled burn­ing area. The evening is a mov­ing pro­ces­sion, so choose a pub­lic view­ing point using the offi­cial 2027 route infor­ma­tion, not a route copied from an old trav­el blog.

Detailed 2027 road-clo­sure orders, acces­si­ble view­ing arrange­ments and tem­po­rary toi­let pro­vi­sion were not ver­i­fied as pub­lished at this review. Check com­mit­tee and coun­cil updates near­er the day; a town-cen­tre park­ing space is not a reli­able evening trans­port plan.

Daytime Programme

The 2027 out­line lists an 08:15 depar­ture from Isles­burgh Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­tre, 09:00 move­ment from Toll Clock to the British Legion, and a 09:40 depar­ture along the Esplanade and Com­mer­cial Street, paus­ing at the Mar­ket Cross. Offi­cial pho­tographs at Bres­say Fer­ry Ter­mi­nal are cor­doned off. The Muse­um vis­it is list­ed at 15:30.

The Bill is dis­played at the Mar­ket Cross from 06:00–17:00; after the morn­ing march the gal­ley remains at Bres­say Fer­ry Ter­mi­nal until 18:00, before mov­ing to Hill­head. Check access on arrival. Civic recep­tions and vis­its to schools, hos­pi­tals and care set­tings are not open sight­see­ing stops.

Torchlight Procession

The offi­cial out­line gives the Jarl Squad’s pas­sage through the ranks at 19:15 and light-up/pro­ces­sion at 19:30, on Hill­head below the Town Hall. Assem­bly and torch han­dling are oper­a­tional activ­i­ties, not vis­i­tor par­tic­i­pa­tion. Remain in pub­lic areas and leave every stew­ard­ed route clear.

Arrive in the area well before light-up; a plan­ning allowance of rough­ly 45–60 min­utes can help you find your cho­sen posi­tion with­out rush­ing. This is a sug­gest­ed buffer, not an offi­cial entry time or a guar­an­tee of an unob­struct­ed view.

Galley Burning

The pro­ces­sion fin­ish­es at the King George V play­ing field burn­ing site. The pub­lic and press are not allowed inside. Watch from per­mit­ted posi­tions out­side the con­trolled area and fol­low staff instruc­tions as crowd routes change. Do not climb walls, roofs or street fur­ni­ture, and do not try to fol­low the gal­ley through a closed entrance.

Hall Celebrations

After the out­door event, squads move between halls for acts, music and danc­ing. The pub­lished out­line places the Jarl Squad’s first evening hall vis­it at 21:15; that is not a pub­lic hall-open­ing time. Admis­sion is by the rel­e­vant invi­ta­tion or tick­et, and many cel­e­bra­tions are pri­vate.

At review, the Town Hall tick­et page still described the closed 2026 appli­ca­tions and advised check­ing lat­er in 2026 for 2027. Do not read its £50 price or pre­vi­ous event hours as a con­firmed 2027 offer. Fol­low the next pub­lished appli­ca­tion notice and the con­di­tions on your actu­al tick­et.

Best Time to Arrive

Reach Shet­land before fes­ti­val day, with a weath­er buffer if pos­si­ble. Stay in or near Ler­wick on the main night and plan your depar­ture with room for dis­rup­tion and rest. An overnight fer­ry due on the fes­ti­val morn­ing or a same-day flight gives you lit­tle recov­ery time if the ser­vice is delayed.

A typical festival sequence

1. Morn­ing: watch a pub­lic Jarl Squad march and read the Bill.
2. Day­time: see the gal­ley, explore Ler­wick and take a warm meal break.
3. After­noon: attend a con­firmed pub­lic appear­ance and pre­pare water­proof lay­ers.
4. Evening: choose an autho­rised view­ing posi­tion before assem­bly and light-up.
5. Pro­ces­sion and burn­ing: stay out­side the route and con­trolled burn­ing site.
6. After­ward: squads move to halls; attend only with legit­i­mate access.
7. Overnight: cel­e­bra­tions con­tin­ue, while oth­er vis­i­tors return to their accom­mo­da­tion.

Book the bed before the trip

Accom­mo­da­tion is the first con­straint to resolve. Ler­wick has a lim­it­ed sup­ply, and demand ris­es around the fes­ti­val. Book a con­firmed room ear­ly, check can­cel­la­tion terms and ask how you will get back after the evening. A room else­where in Shet­land can be use­ful only if a real­is­tic late-night return is arranged.

Book flights or fer­ry trav­el along­side accom­mo­da­tion rather than assum­ing either will remain avail­able. A fer­ry cab­in or suit­able seat can make a long win­ter jour­ney more com­fort­able. Keep a copy of every con­fir­ma­tion offline and mon­i­tor the operator’s ser­vice notices before set­ting out.

Allow for winter transport

Wind, sea con­di­tions and oper­a­tional dis­rup­tion can affect island con­nec­tions. Add time before the main day and avoid a tight onward com­mit­ment imme­di­ate­ly after your planned return. Leave enough mon­ey and flex­i­bil­i­ty to cope with an extra night if nec­es­sary.

The air­port bus, town ser­vices and taxis are sep­a­rate parts of the plan. Check the actu­al fes­ti­val-day and next-day bus timetable; spe­cial arrange­ments can replace ordi­nary ser­vices. Pre-book an essen­tial taxi and con­firm a pick­up point out­side road clo­sures. Do not assume fre­quent trans­port will be run­ning after the burn­ing or through the night.

Dress for standing outside

A water­proof out­er lay­er, warm mid­lay­ers, hat and gloves are the foun­da­tion. Add stur­dy water­proof footwear with grip and leave fash­ion-only shoes for anoth­er occa­sion. Stand­ing still feels cold­er than walk­ing, espe­cial­ly in wind and rain. Keep a dry lay­er avail­able if you can return to your accom­mo­da­tion.

Use a small secure bag so you do not take up unnec­es­sary space in the crowd. Pro­tect a phone and cam­era from rain, keep bat­tery pow­er warm and car­ry a pow­er bank. A weath­er fore­cast helps with prepa­ra­tion, but it can­not tell you exact­ly how exposed a par­tic­u­lar view­ing point will feel.

Fire, barriers and crowd density

Watch from autho­rised pub­lic areas, nev­er from the pro­ces­sion route. Do not touch torch­es, the gal­ley or cer­e­mo­ni­al equip­ment. Leave gaps used by stew­ards clear and move when asked; the safest posi­tion may change with wind, fire oper­a­tions or crowd pres­sure.

Keep chil­dren close, agree a meet­ing point and iden­ti­fy a way to leave before the pro­ces­sion starts. If some­one in the group is uncom­fort­able in a dense crowd, choose a less pres­sured view­ing posi­tion or the day­time pro­gramme. Do not use a child’s pushchair or mobil­i­ty aid to hold a gap in an oper­a­tional route.

Hall access and local residents

Only enter a hall if you have the cor­rect tick­et or a gen­uine invi­ta­tion. Ask the host about arrival, food, seat­ing, dress and pho­tog­ra­phy rules. Do not expect accom­mo­da­tion staff or the fes­ti­val com­mit­tee to find you a last-minute pri­vate invi­ta­tion.

Respect door­ways, gar­dens and res­i­den­tial win­dows while wait­ing out­doors. Keep noise down when return­ing late and take rub­bish with you. The town con­tin­ues to be home for peo­ple who may be work­ing the next day, rest­ing or choos­ing not to join the crowds.

Food, toilets and accessibility

Eat before the main evening and iden­ti­fy a warm place to take a break. Check kitchen clos­ing times and do not count on find­ing a late meal after every venue has filled. Car­ry water, but keep your bag light enough for sev­er­al hours out­doors.

Ask your accom­mo­da­tion about near­by toi­lets and check the cur­rent event notices for tem­po­rary facil­i­ties. Avail­abil­i­ty and step-free access should be con­firmed direct­ly. Ler­wick includes slopes, kerbs and crowd­ed pave­ments; do not assume a view­ing point that looks close on a map is acces­si­ble.

If you need seat­ed or acces­si­ble view­ing, con­tact the rel­e­vant organ­is­er well ahead of trav­el with your actu­al require­ments. Con­firm the approach, drop-off, sur­face, toi­lets and depar­ture route before pay­ing for an arrange­ment. No des­ig­nat­ed 2027 acces­si­ble view­ing pro­vi­sion was ver­i­fied at review, so this guide does not promise one.

Common Mistakes

• Arriv­ing with­out con­firmed accom­mo­da­tion.
• Assum­ing every hall accepts vis­i­tors or walk-ins.
• Under­es­ti­mat­ing Jan­u­ary cold, wind, rain and dark­ness.
• Wear­ing inad­e­quate water­proof lay­ers or slip­pery footwear.
• Stand­ing too close to flames or enter­ing a con­trolled area.
• Expect­ing fre­quent late-night bus­es or an unbooked taxi on demand.
• Treat­ing squads only as cos­tume enter­tain­ment.
• Block­ing the pro­ces­sion for a pho­to­graph.
• Assum­ing the cel­e­bra­tion ends when the gal­ley burns.

Essential Up Helly Aa Experience — the main evening

Arrive in Ler­wick with accom­mo­da­tion and your return route already set­tled. Eat ear­ly, dress for a long peri­od out­side and use the pub­lished route to choose an autho­rised view­ing posi­tion. Watch the torch­light pro­ces­sion, look for the gal­ley and appre­ci­ate the whole move­ment through the town rather than chas­ing one close-up.

If your per­mit­ted posi­tion offers a view of the burn­ing, watch from out­side the cor­doned site. Accept that the pub­lic route and bar­ri­ers deter­mine what you can see. After­ward, return to your accom­mo­da­tion or a venue where you have con­firmed admis­sion; an enjoy­able evening does not depend on obtain­ing a hall tick­et.

Full Festival Experience — a day in Lerwick

Reach town before the pub­lic morn­ing march. Watch the Jarl Squad, read the Bill and see the gal­ley in day­light where access is per­mit­ted. Leave the cor­doned offi­cial pho­to­graph to its par­tic­i­pants and do not fol­low pri­vate vis­its. A muse­um stop and a walk around the town can add con­text between sched­uled appear­ances.

Build in a warm lunch, a rest and time to dry cloth­ing before the evening. If attend­ing a pub­lic Muse­um appear­ance, con­firm its tim­ing and access direct­ly. Return to the pro­ces­sion area ear­ly enough to find your place calm­ly. Only add an overnight hall cel­e­bra­tion when you have a legit­i­mate invi­ta­tion or tick­et and under­stand the host’s con­di­tions.

Best Shetland Experience — give the place more time

The strongest expe­ri­ence comes from under­stand­ing Up Helly Aa as a liv­ing com­mu­ni­ty tra­di­tion, not sim­ply a spec­tac­u­lar fire event. Spend addi­tion­al days learn­ing about Shetland’s his­to­ry, music and con­tem­po­rary life. Win­ter day­light is short, so plan one man­age­able out­door out­ing at a time, fol­low weath­er advice and keep coastal walks away from exposed edges.

Explore Lerwick’s water­front and her­itage at a com­fort­able pace, and check open­ing hours before trav­el­ling to a muse­um or attrac­tion. Some places and sea­son­al exhi­bi­tions do not run their sum­mer sched­ule in Jan­u­ary. Ask local­ly about a music ses­sion or oth­er pub­lic event, with the same care for access and book­ing that you give the main fes­ti­val.

Oth­er Shet­land fire fes­ti­vals have their own dates and iden­ti­ties. A longer stay may allow anoth­er vis­it, but check that event’s organ­is­er and trans­port rather than assum­ing a sec­ond pro­ces­sion will hap­pen near­by the next night. Allow a buffer before and after your island jour­ney so the trip is not bal­anced on one flight or sail­ing.

Watch with curiosity

Notice how the Jarl Squad dif­fers from the oth­er guiz­er squads, how a song brings a crowd togeth­er and how peo­ple respond to a famil­iar act. These details give the spec­ta­cle its mean­ing. A pro­gramme can help explain char­ac­ters and the sequence, while a con­ver­sa­tion may reveal a year of prepa­ra­tion behind a few min­utes in view.

Vis­i­tors watch the pub­lic cel­e­bra­tions; join­ing the pro­ces­sion is not an activ­i­ty avail­able sim­ply by wear­ing a cos­tume. The com­mit­tee pub­lish­es res­i­dence require­ments for par­tic­i­pa­tion. Respect the dis­tinc­tion, keep your cam­era with­in spec­ta­tor space and let local peo­ple lead their event.

Best Subjects

Build a sto­ry across the day: the Guiz­er Jarl and Jarl Squad, paint­ed shields, the gal­ley in day­light, wider guiz­er squads, torch­bear­ers, Ler­wick streets and the atmos­phere of peo­ple wait­ing togeth­er. Include musi­cians and town con­text as well as flames. Clear­ly label archival pho­tographs; an old squad’s out­fit does not estab­lish the next Jarl Squad’s design.

Best Light

Day­time appear­ances make details eas­i­er to see and often give more flex­i­bil­i­ty than the main pro­ces­sion. Jan­u­ary day­light is lim­it­ed; use it for the gal­ley, streets and per­mit­ted por­traits. At night, the bright torch­es sit against deep shad­ows, so expect to choose between retain­ing flame detail and record­ing every face clear­ly. Pro­tect equip­ment before rain arrives.

Best Positions

Use the offi­cial route and stand in an autho­rised spec­ta­tor area with room to leave. A wide view down a per­mit­ted street can be more effec­tive than a tight front-row posi­tion. Remain out­side all bar­ri­ers and the burn­ing site. Do not assume a pho­tog­ra­ph­er vis­i­ble in an archive image was stand­ing in a place open to ordi­nary spec­ta­tors.

Torchlight Procession Photography

For mov­ing peo­ple, begin around 1/250–1/500 sec­ond with a wide aper­ture and raise ISO as need­ed; these are start­ing points, not set­tings that fit every cam­era. A fast prime lens can help, while a wide-angle view records the rela­tion­ship between torch­light, town and crowd. A tele­pho­to lens can iso­late a detail from your exist­ing safe posi­tion.

Use short bursts rather than hold­ing the shut­ter con­tin­u­ous­ly, and keep an eye on peo­ple around you between frames. Do not step into the route to remove a head or bar­ri­er from the com­po­si­tion. Avoid intru­sive flash and any light­ing that dis­tracts par­tic­i­pants.

Galley Burning Photography

Expose with the flames in mind. Reduce expo­sure if high­lights are clip­ping, take a test frame and check the result as the bright­ness changes. Sil­hou­ettes can tell the sto­ry with­out try­ing to lift every shad­ow. A wide com­po­si­tion can show the scale more clear­ly than a close crop of fire alone.

Stay at the pub­lic view­ing dis­tance set by staff. Do not chase sparks, climb struc­tures or enter the site after the main flames sub­side. Smoke and wind may obscure a view; accept that lim­i­ta­tion rather than mov­ing into a con­trolled area.

Low-Light & Fire Photography

High ISO is often prefer­able to a blurred mov­ing sub­ject. If your cam­era allows it, shoot RAW for more flex­i­bil­i­ty with white bal­ance and shad­ow detail lat­er. Avoid a tri­pod where it obstructs a busy pave­ment; sta­bilise the cam­era with your stance and use a shut­ter speed suit­ed to the sub­ject.

Bring a rain cov­er and a dry cloth, keep spare bat­ter­ies warm and avoid chang­ing lens­es in dri­ving rain. Strap the cam­era secure­ly and keep bags away from the mov­ing crowd. A small kit that you can man­age with gloves is more prac­ti­cal than equip­ment you can­not pro­tect.

Portrait & Detail Photography

Ask before close por­traits when there is time, and accept a refusal. Do not stop the Jarl Squad dur­ing a timed move­ment or enter a cor­doned offi­cial pho­to­graph. Shield pat­terns, stitch­ing, instru­ments and the paint­ed gal­ley can con­vey craft with­out requir­ing intru­sive access. Seek a par­ent or guardian’s per­mis­sion for a close por­trait of a child.

Phone Photography

Use the main lens or a gen­uine opti­cal zoom set­ting and avoid heavy dig­i­tal mag­ni­fi­ca­tion. Tap to focus and low­er expo­sure slight­ly to pre­serve the bright­est torch­es. For mov­ing peo­ple, a short burst may work bet­ter than a long night-mode expo­sure; use night mode only when the sub­ject and your hands can remain still.

Keep the phone dry and warm, car­ry a pow­er bank and save enough bat­tery for trans­port and con­tact details. A brief video can record singing and the move­ment of the pro­ces­sion, pro­vid­ed you hold the phone with­in your own space and do not block some­one else’s view.

What Not to Do

• Do not enter the pro­ces­sion route or cross a bar­ri­er.
• Do not go into the gal­ley-burn­ing site, includ­ing after the burn­ing.
• Do not climb walls, roofs, lamp posts or oth­er struc­tures.
• Do not touch torch­es, the gal­ley or cer­e­mo­ni­al equip­ment.
• Do not fly a drone unless the rel­e­vant author­i­ties and organ­is­ers have explic­it­ly per­mit­ted it.
• Do not enter a pri­vate hall or pho­to­graph its guests with­out legit­i­mate access and the host’s per­mis­sion.