SMUHA procession postponed for two weeks due to weather conditions
However some local halls are still opening their doors and hosting live music
THE ORGANISERS of the South Mainland Up Helly Aa have confirmed that tonight’s procession and galley burning has been postponed for two weeks until 24 March due to the wintry road conditions.
A short statement of the SMUHA Facebook page, posted a few minutes ago, says: “We are devastated to say that weather conditions have made it impossible for the buses to operate safely, we are therefore going to postpone SMUHA procession and night events until Friday 24th March.”
Sonia Robertson of Yell-based R. Robertson & Son said the company would have had several buses running for squad transport.
“I feel the right decision was made by the committee and safety was put first,” she said.
Updates regarding hall tickets will follow in due course. Further details for 24 March will be released early next week.
Whilst the night-time events were formally postponed, some venues still opened their doors and hosted live music.
These included the Bigton Hall, Ness Boating Club and Sandwick Social Club.
The hop day events tomorrow are set to go ahead as planned.
The fire festival got underway this morning (Friday) as planned after three Covid postponements.
The procession, which was due to culminate in the galley being burned at the St Ninian’s Isle sands, was also set to be streamed live online by Promote Shetland.
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