Copyright Martin McCarthy for Beltane Fire Society. All Rights Reserved. www.beltane.org / facebook.com/beltanefiresociety
With less than two weeks to go until the return of Beltane Fire Festival, organisers have released details about their family-friendly Beltane Community Open Day, part of Tradfest’s 12 day celebration of traditional arts.
Between 1pm-4pm on Saturday 29th April, the day before Beltane Fire Festival, the Beltane Community are opening up Calton Hill with and afternoon packed with workshops, kids activities, crafts, storytelling, music, and walking tours.
Beltane Fire Society is calling it a chance to celebrate the birth of Summer and find out more about the famous Beltane Fire Festival, which takes place the following day. You can explore the changing seasons and the meaning of the festival, with storytelling from key Beltane characters and walking tours of Calton Hill to help you make the most of the big night. There will be music, a chance to try out traditional skills (from fire-making to crafts), and Beltane fun for children (5+, accompanied by their adults) too.
Event Coordinator, Georgia Royes said: “We wanted a chance for the local community to come along and get a better sense of what Beltane is all about. It’s a chance to meet some of the performers, hear more about our story and learn some new skills. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been coming to Beltane for years or you’ve never even heard of the festival, this is a day that everyone can enjoy.”
What to bring: your wishes for the year ahead, donations for our buckets, wood for the following night’s Beltane bonfire (if you like), a picnic, and a flask of tea to keep you toasty!
What to expect: Storytelling, Kids Activity Zone, Drumming Workshops, Kids Parade, Live Music, History of Beltane talk, Neid Fire workshop, Walking tours, Woodland Trust, Wishing Tree.
Beltane Fire Festival itself is held on the night of the 30th April. And while the celebration may have ancient Celtic roots (first recorded as celebrated by Celts in the first century AD), the modern incarnation of Beltane developed a story all of its own. Every year the May Queen and Green Man lead their court around the Hill as they cast off Winter and welcome in Summer, meeting a cavalcade of colourful characters along their route. It is a chance for volunteer performers and audience alike to celebrate freedom and creativity, and to reconnect with nature and the changing of the seasons – right in the heart of Scotland’s capital.
Chair of Beltane Fire Society, Erin Macdonald said: “Beltane is always a stunning night, an Edinburgh cultural institution completely unlike anything else, filled with fire, drums, puppets and unbridled joy. We are all hugely excited to be a part of the thirtieth Beltane Fire Festival, and to share it with as many people from the wider community as we can. We hope that lots of folk will come along to our Open Day for a chance to meet the people involved, and learn more about the narrative and traditions of our event.”
Beltane Community Open Day is held on Calton Hill Saturday 29th April from 1pm-4pm. Entrance by donation. For more information, visit: https://beltane.org/open-day/
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