Flamborough Fire Festival returns after pandemic

More than 1,000 people are expected to take part in a torch-lit procession through the village

Hundreds of people are set to take part in a torch-lit Viking procession later as part of celebrations to welcome in the New Year.

The Flamborough Fire Festival will return to East Yorkshire for first time since the pandemic.

Now in its sixth year the event, featuring a longship parade and firework display, celebrates the village's Viking heritage.

Festival organiser Jane Emmerson said she expected an "amazing atmosphere".

The event features a long ship parade and firework display

"What we're trying to do is keep the [Viking] history going, and the idea of the fire is to burn away all the old spirits and bring in some new ones for the new year," said Ms Emmerson.

"It's very dramatic. We've got the drums - 19 or 20 drums - and the music is absolutely brilliant. It's quite emotional."

Festival organiser Jane Emmerson said the event was a way to celebrate the village's Viking heritage

She said the event, which was cancelled for the past two years due to Covid, had previously attracted more than 20,000 visitors "from all over the world".

This years torch-lit procession is expected to include more than 1,000 people.

"The festival is a wonderful and unusual way to celebrate New Year's Eve.

"It's an amazing atmosphere," she said.

The event is returning after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic

Ms Emerson said the Viking history still remained in the village with a number of houses and cottages bearing words of Norse-origin in their names, such as Garth and Valhalla.

Many of the dialect words and place names in East Yorkshire and across the Humber estuary in North Lincolnshire have Scandinavian origins.

They were absorbed into the language following invasions and settlements by Vikings more than 1,000 years ago from areas of Scandinavia.

The Viking Age covers the period from the 8th to 11th Centuries.