Fiery European Festivals

Today, we have two stories of fiery festivals in Europe, Up Helly Aa, a fire festival celebrated for over 130 years now in Scotland's Shetland islands, and the even older Feast of Saint Anthony the Great, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, where residents ride their horses and mules through purifying bonfires. (22 photos total)

At left, a member of the "Jarl Squad" in Viking costume stands near others as they gather around a burning Viking ship during the traditional "Up Helly Aa" festival, in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles, Scotland, Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010. (AP Photo / Danny Lawson, PA) -- At right, a man rides a horse through a purifying bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Up Helly Aa, 2010

Up Helly Aa celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian vikings in the Shetland Islands, marking the end of the yule season, and has employed this theme in the festival since 1870. The event culminates with up to 1,000 'guizers' (men in costume) throwing flaming torches into a Viking longship. The event happens all over Shetland, but it is only the Lerwick galley which is not sent seaward. Everywhere else, the flaming galley is sent into the sea, in an echo of actual Viking sea burials.

A shield, an axe and a helmet, belonging to a member of the the Viking Jarl Squad are pictured as they eat breakfast before the start of the annual Up Helly Aa Festival, in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Members of the Viking Jarl Squad drink a cup of tea before the annual Up Helly Aa Festival, Lerwick, Shetland Islands, January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Reuben Conroy, 10, a member of the Viking Jarl Squad, puts on his costume for the start of the annual Up Helly Aa Festival on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

The Viking Jarl Squad are pictured as musicians play during the annual Up Helly Aa Festival, Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

In a misty fog, a member of the Viking Jarl Squad prepares for the start of the Up Helly Aa Festival on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Members of the Viking Jarl Squad are lit by burning torches as they march during the Up Helly Aa Festival in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Members of the Viking Jarl Squad surround their leader or "Guizer Jarl" on a Viking galley ship on the Shetland Islands, on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A member of the Viking Jarl Squad wearing a winged helment is illuminated by burning torches during the Up Helly Aa Festival on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

The "Jarl Squad" all dressed in Viking costume gather around a Viking ship as they take part in the traditional Up Helly Aa festival on Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010. (AP Photo / Danny Lawson, PA) #

Members of the Viking Jarl Squad are illuminated by flares as they light burning torches on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A helmeted member of the Viking Jarl Squad is silhouetted in front of a burning viking galley ship on January 26, 2010 in Lerwick, Scotland. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A member of the Jarl viking squad holds up his axe as he is silhouetted by a burning viking longship during the Up Helly Aa Festival on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A viking galley ship goes up in flames, surrounded by the Viking Jarl Squad in Lerwick, on Scotland's Shetland Islands, on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

The Guizer Jarl or Chief of the Jarl viking squad stands before the burning viking longship during Up Helly Aa in Lerwick, Scotland on January 26, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) #

The Feast of Saint Anthony

The festival in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain coincides every year with the eve of the Feast of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. According to tradition, revelers ride their horses through bonfires placed around the village to purify the animals with fire and smoke after receiving a blessing from a priest.

A man rides a horse near a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) #

A man drinks wine during the annual Saint Anthony purification ceremony in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares near Avila late January 16, 2010. (REUTERS/Susana Vera) #

Flames lick across the underside of a horse as a man rides it through a bonfire during the annual Saint Anthony purification ceremony in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain on January 16, 2010. (REUTERS/Susana Vera) #

A boy hides his face from the smoke as he watches horses jumping through flames during the annual Saint Anthony purification ceremony in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain on January 16, 2010. (REUTERS/Susana Vera) #

A man rides a horse through a embers and flames of a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) #

Onlookers watch as a man rides his horse through a bonfire in the streets of San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) #

The head of a horse emerges from the flames as a man rides it through a purifying bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) #

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