Vikings will storm the streets of Historic Downtown next month as part of a historic trip across the ocean.
More than 35 members of the Jarl Squad – a group of men who participate in the famed Up Helly Aa festival on the Shetland Islands of Scotland – will travel 6,500 km to march for the first time in the Calgary Stampede parade.
Since Cochranite Alistair Dickinson hails from the Islands, the whole lot of them has decided to stay in town during their overseas stay.
“Most of them have never been to Canada before … it’s a big journey for them,” said Dickinson’s wife, Melanie. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity … everybody’s talking about this amazing thing that they’re coming to Canada.”
Dickinson travelled to the Islands in January after being invited to march in this year’s festival as a member of the honoured group.
“You get people from all over the world who come to the Shetlands to see it,” Dickinson’s wife, Melanie, said of Europe’s largest fire festival.
The Town of Cochrane wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to see the celebrated squad in action, so the Vikings – in full regalia – will appear en masse at the Visitor Information Centre on Saturday, July 8.
At 10 a.m., they will march to Centennial Plaza, with the Cochrane Pipe Band and a second Scottish musical group providing the music along the way. The mighty warriors will also make time to talk and mingle with fans at Frank Wills Memorial Hall later in the afternoon.
Melanie said the group is an honour guard, and it took her husband months to construct his elaborate costume in order to take part in the procession.
“It’s a proper suit … all handcrafted - and it’s heavy,” she said, adding while the men dress in historical Viking gear, they are not focused on re-enactments.
“It’s part of our heritage,” she said of the group. “It’s part of our tradition.”
