Beltane

Hello all!

Last night Lili and Andrew went to Beltane Fire Festival. For those who are unfamiliar with it here is a brief description.

Beltane or Beltain (/ˈbɛl.teɪn/) is the Gaelic May Day festival. Most commonly it is held on 1 May, or about halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The modern festival was started in 1988 by a small group of enthusiasts including the musical collective Test Dept, with academic support from the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Since then the festival has grown, and now involves over 300 voluntary collaborators and performers with the available tickets often selling out.

At 8 at night, we made our way up Calton Hill in the center of Edinburgh and waited for the festivities to begin.

It is quite incredible how late it stays light here in Scotland. Pushing 9 at evening, this is what the sky still looked like.

Around 9:30 the festivities began... The procession is driven by the beat of drums which urge it inexorably towards summer. At the procession’s head is the May Queen and the Green Man, followed by a cavalcade of characters who are intrinsically linked to them and their journey.

Their destination is punctuated by various groups who either help or hinder their progress towards the Green Man’s fate and the May Queen’s destiny.

After a dramatic stage performance signifying the inception of summer the May Queen and Green Man spark the birth of summer by lighting a huge bonfire. The performance then moves into its community phase. All the participants congregate in a place called the Bower. From here the finishing movements of the festival are played out in a dance of reds and whites.

After the arch is torched, all sorts of performers were scattered around the hilltop. Fire dancers, drum circles, even some odd perfmance art, and by odd we mean out of everything we saw. Everyone was hanging around having a great time, exploring all the different performaces.

Soon things were winding down and Lili and Andrew were growing tired, so we trudged back down the hill and made our way back to a beagle who was quite glad to see us.

More soon!

-L&A