For returning squad member 14-year-old Erin Miller, taking part in Up Helly Aa is a long-held dream. Growing up in an "Up Helly Aa family" (her grandfather was Guizer Jarl) she loved listening to her mum’s stories about the festival. Erin was regularly taken to the Galley Shed, where volunteers painstakingly build a replica longboat, which is revealed on Up Helly Aa morning only to be burnt the very same day after the torchlit procession.
It is a spectacular event but when Erin went to the procession, she found she was unable to cope with the loud bangs of the fireworks.
Last year, Erin faced up to her fear and put her name down to be in a squad. When she found they had been selected, she and the squad members were “all in big shock”.
What followed for Erin and the others was unforgettable. From the meetings where they discussed their costume choices to the galley burning and the hop (the post-event dance and party), the whole experience allowed each squad member to be fully included while getting the support they needed.
Erin’s confidence was so boosted she even stood in this year’s Junior Jarl election, the first female ever to do so.