Shetland’s largest Up Helly Aa lifts ban on female participants

Organisers of Viking fire festival in Lerwick had long resisted calls to drop males-only rule

Shetland's largest Up Helly Aa Viking fire festival has lifted a longstanding ban on women and girls taking part, after repeatedly resisting demands for reform.

Organisers of the event held in Lerwick every January had refused to let women take part in the annual parade through the town by 1,000 torch-bearing guizers or the late-night ritualistic burning of a replica longship on a council-owned playing field.