Beltane Fire Festival is an annual

participatory art Participatory art is an approach to making art which engages public participation in the creative process, letting them become co-authors, editors, and observers of the work. This type of art is incomplete without viewers' physical interaction. It ...

s event and ritual, held on 30 April on

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...

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Historical background

The modern Beltane Fire Festival is inspired by the ancient Gaelic festival of

Beltane Beltane () is the Gaelic May Day festival. Commonly observed on the first of May, the festival falls midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The festival name is synonymous with the month marking the ...

which began on the evening before 1 May and marked the beginning of summer.MacKillop, James (1998) ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford, Oxford University Press. pp. 39, 400-402, 421Dames, Michael (1992) ''Mythic Ireland''. London, Thames & Hudson . pp. 206-10McNeill, F. Marian (1959) ''The Silver Bough'', Vol. 2. William MacLellan, Glasgow pp. 56 The modern festival was started in 1988 by a small group of enthusiasts including the musical collective

Test Dept Test Dept, sometimes credited as Test Department is a British industrial music group from London, England, that was one of the most important and influential early industrial music acts. Their approach was marked by the use of "found" material ...

, with academic support from the School of Scottish Studies at the

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. Since then the festival has grown, and now involves over 300 voluntary collaborators and performers with available tickets often selling out. While the festival draws on a variety of historical, mythological and literary influences, the organisers do not claim it to be anything other than ''a modern celebration of Beltane'', evolving with its participants.Beltane Fire Society
- Official event website

Modern festival

The current Beltane was started in 1988 by a small group of enthusiasts including Angus Farquhar of the musical collective Test Dept., choreographer Lindsay John, and dancers from

Laban Laban is a French language, French surname. It may refer to: Places * Laban-e Olya, a village in Iran * Laban-e Sofla, a village in Iran * Laban, Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * 8539 Laban, main-belt asteroid People ...

, as well as academics from the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh. The event was intended as a celebration of traditional rituals as a local manifestation of an international spirit. Originally intended to take place on Arthur's Seat, the home of earlier Edinburgh Beltane celebrations, for practical reasons the location was moved to Calton Hill. Choreography, iconography and performance were moulded by the originators' research into historical accounts of Beltane and their own influences (e.g. Test Department's drumming, Trinidadian carnival, and ritual dance and performance). The Beltane Fire Society, a registered charity which runs the festival, is managed by a democratically elected voluntary committee, and all the performers are volunteers who either join by word of mouth or by attending one of the advertised open meetings held early in the year. Senior performers and artists in the society help others through workshops with aspects of event production, prop construction, character performance techniques, team building, percussion skills and the

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considerations involved. The society has also held fundraising art and music events and has held a 'mini-Beltane' at a local AIDS Hospice, Milestone House. As a community event, each year the performance has evolved as new people bring their own influences and directions. The core narrative remains by and large the same though additional elements have been added over time for theatrical, ritual, and practical reasons. Originally an event with a core of a dozen performers and a few hundred audience, the event has grown to several hundred performers and over ten thousand audience. Key characters within the performance are maintained, though reinterpreted by their performers, and additional participants incorporated each year. Originally, the festival was free and only lightly stewarded, however, as the event has grown in popularity, due to the capacity of the hill, funding requirements, and

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requests, the festival has in recent years moved to being a ticketed event.

Gallery of Beltane photographs

Image:Beltane at Calton Hill fire lighting.JPG, File:Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival 2012 - National Monument.JPG, Image:Beltane at calton Hill fire procession.JPG, File:Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival 2012 - Procession.JPG, File:Beltane - white warrior women.jpg, Image:The Phoenix and Sprites.JPG, File:Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival 2012 - Red Beastie Drummers.JPG, File:Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival 2012 - Bonfire.JPG,

References

External links

{{commons category, Edinburgh Beltane Festival
Beltane Fire Society
- The official BFS website and blog
Introduction to Beltane and interview with Festival "Scribe" Tanya

- A musical suite inspired by the Beltane Fire
The Beltane Festival revealed
- bbc.co.uk
Behind the pomp of Beltane Festival
- bbc.co.uk
Edinburgh Festival Guide
Beltane Fire Festival Listing Festivals in Edinburgh Fire arts Cultural festivals in Scotland Religious festivals in Scotland Traditions involving fire Calton Hill April events