Girls will be taking part in Junior Up Helly Aa for the first time in the event’s history when it returns to Shetland next week.
Organisers decided to lift the gender restrictions at the Viking festival in line with the changes made at the main event.
Last June, the committee confirmed that from 2023 women and girls will be allowed to take part and become parts of the squads.
A total of 27 girls will be among the 108 junior guizers playing an active role in the fire festival for the first time.
They will take part in a torch-lit procession through the town alongside 81 boys on January 31.
Robert Geddes, secretary of the main Up Helly Aa committee, said it was “positive” to see so many girls signing up.
He added: “Initially the junior committee opened up the festival with a 50/50 split for boys and girls, and then they added more people from the waiting list.
“It’s really good to see that 27 girls registered before the deadline. They’ve done well to make it as equal as possible.”
Change after decades of tradition
The junior festival was first held in the town 66 years ago.
In the past, only boys in P7, S1 and S2 from schools in Lerwick were able to participate, but this was extended to the whole of Shetland when the event was last held in 2020.
The position of junior jarl is usually voted for by his peers and reserved to a S2 boy who is at school in Lerwick.
The junior procession will begin at 6pm ahead of the main spectacle which will feature almost 1,000 guizers.
They will then gather at King George V Park to burn the “peerie galley” which is a small replica of a Viking longship.
Members of the Junior Jarl Squad are also given the opportunity to get involved in the day’s activities, including visiting schools and care homes.
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