Worldwide audience for Up-Helly-A’

Next week’s Up-Helly-A’ festivities will be broadcast live on the internet giving viewers around the world to enjoy the event.

It is the fifth year that Promote Shetland has streamed the event through the internet broadcasting site 60 North TV. This year’s coverage begins at 3pm and will run until 9pm so a global audience can watch the galley go up in flames.

Andy Steven, of Promote Shetland, said: “We are delighted to be organising the Up-Helly-A’ webcast again this year.

“We did our first trial stream back in 2010, and, with absolutely no promotion, received over 2,000 views. The production of the broadcast has improved year on year and the popularity of the stream has increased massively.

In 2014 we were overwhelmed with the amount of interest the Up-Helly-A’ webcast attracted, on that one day the page was viewed around 32,500 times from 109 different countries and there was around 21,000 unique visits.

“These viewing figures demonstrate the worldwide appeal of Up-Helly-A’. The festival is unique and intriguing for potential visitors making the live stream really popular. It also provides an opportunity for expats to reconnect with their Shetland roots and share their island’s heritage with friends and family.”