Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Viking Jarls pillage Portsoy ahead of world-famous boat festival

Portsoy Harbour
Portsoy Harbour

A horde of Vikings has pillaged a north-east fishing village just days after it was battered by flooding.

But the arrival of the Shetland troupe, led by Guizer Jarl Lyall Gair, is all in good spirits as the squad landed at Portsoy yesterday to join the celebrations for the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival.

Organisers of the world-famous festival, which draws visitors from around the globe to the Banffshire coast, have battled the odds to get the annual event ready after a flash flood washed away a bridge.

Now in its 24th year, the festival is based around the Portsoy Sail Loft. The bunkhouse, which hosts guests for the weekend and was officially opened by the Duke of Rothesay last week, had suffered water damage.

But volunteers worked around the clock to repair the damage and yesterday the festivities began when 15 fierce Shetland jarls arrived along with Orkney yoals and local skills which were rowed in Portsoy harbour.

Speaking as the Up Helly Aa Squad arrived, festival co-chairman Roger Goodyear said everything is in place for a great weekend.

“We’re really looking forward to it. We’ve got a strong maritime programme.

“We’re also delighted North Link Ferries have been able to provide their support to bring the crews down from Orkney and Shetland to take part in the races.

“We’re very much looking forward to welcoming everyone to Portsoy.”

The Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, sponsored by Ace Winches, takes place today and tomorrow and promotes maritime links and heritage as well as crafts, food and drink, music and dance and children’s activities.

Up to 16,000 people are expected to descend on the tiny village over the next 48 hours, with more than 10% travelling from overseas.

Tickets for the festival and events are still available at the gates today and tomorrow.

For more information visit www.stbfportsoy.org