Port Chief Executive taking the helm
Lerwick Port Authority Chief Executive, Captain Calum Grains, will lead the town’s spectacular Up Helly Aa Viking fire festival as Guizer Jarl in January.
Kicking off the proceedings, Calum, along with other committee members, are visiting local businesses with a “collecting sheet”, a painting designed by Diane Garrick depicting his family on a Viking ship in the Whiteness Voe. The collecting sheet records all the donations pledged towards the festival.
Calum said: “The festival is entirely dependent on the support from local businesses and visiting them personally in the lead-up to the celebrations is a long-established tradition. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far, we have been so well received.”
Pictured (left to right) are James Leask, Up Helly Aa Committee Treasurer, with Lerwick Port Authority management team members Melanie Henderson, Calum Grains, Victor Sandison, Sheila Duncan and Alexander Simpson.
Victor and Alexander will participate in the Jarl Squad with Calum on 28 January 2025 when thousands will watch the torch parade and burning of a Viking galley.
Extending maritime connections, Chief Executive Officers, Tom Hutchison, Montrose Port Authority, and Alex MacLeod, Stornoway Port Authority, will be in the ranks with Calum as guests in his squad.
The festival – one of a series across Shetland – celebrates the islands’ Norse heritage and marks the end of the Yule season.