Flamborough Fireballs

The Flamborough Fireballs are back! Hundreds of years ago fireballs and fire torches were made and used by the Vikings of Flamborough to burn off the evil sprits left from the old year so that the spirits of the New Year could come in fresh and clean to the village.

The swinging of fireballs were used as a sign of bringing good luck to the community with the celebration of New Year's Eve first introduced by the Vikings as a festival to toast Odin their famous God!

This was a ritual that all the Flamborough Vikings participate in. By cleansing the air with their fireballs they feared nothing! They believed that their Gods looked down upon them helping them in their daily lives but, more importantly, giving them virility, strength and courage especially when in battle! In the 8th century the Vikings invaded England when they discovered the headland of Flamborough to be the perfect stronghold to protect them from their many enemies. The headland was a wonderful vantage point for planning raids on other settlements throughout Yorkshire!

The tall, white, majestic cliffs of Flamborough were a formidable place where non-Vikings feared to tread! The Vikings of Flamborough felt it was their safe haven whilst they learned to navigate the waters of the North Sea and local rivers thus enabling them to conquer other parts of northern England where they set up bigger Viking settlements such as York - the Viking capital of Yorkshire. And so, the fireballs of Flamborough go back many hundreds of years and are an important part of Flamborough's heritage.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Flamborough Fire Festival on New Year's Eve and showing you the Flamborough Fireballs in action! They really are an amazing sight! Remember... when you are looking at them, burning brightly in the darkness, just allow yourself to soak up the atmosphere and dream that you are also a Viking and Flamborough truly is the home of the Vikings!