Beltane Fire Festival
What started in 1988 as a word-of-mouth cult event has grown into a major festival that attracts 12,000 late-night revellers. A revival of ancient Celtic pagan tradition, Beltane ushers in the spring with teams of semi-naked drummers daubed in coloured paint, various dancing characters and the ritualistic lighting of a massive bonfire. Expect even more ebullience than usual as the festival celebrates its 25th anniversary.
- Phone: 0131 661 5666
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- Website: www.beltane.org
Beltane Fire Festival
An interpretive performance of ancient fertility rituals and celebrations with street performance, dance, drama and fire.
Starting at 8.30pm, the performance features nearly 200 costumed performers telling the story of the May Queen and the Green Man and their struggle to create a balance with the elements and their individual battles between love and lust. The spectacular city centre event climaxes with the rebirth of the Green Man and the lighting of the Beltane Bonfire.
Come and celebrate the coming of summer with the Beltane Fire Society.
Text supplied by third party.
The ancient tradition behind the Beltane Fire Festival
The annual ceremony takes place on Edinburgh's Calton Hill
24 Apr 2012
We don't have details of any future performances, if you know of some please let us know.
Comments & reviews for Beltane Fire Festival
- 1. Jon1978Shery, Edinburgh – 1 May 2011, 7:00pmReport
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It is a nice idea and I like the pagan atmosphere, but the whole event is realized pretty poorly and definitely does not deserve to be paid so much.
I expected something definitely more organized than the parade they do on the Halloween night on the Royal Mile, instead it was just more messy and overcrowded and the whole choreography was making much less sense.
There was no clear structure, nor any artistic performance beside some standard drumming, masquerade group dancing, very little fire juggling, and absolutely no "plot" behind it.
I mean, they could have worked much more on theatrical aspect of it, build up some narrative, play with new medias, e.g., projections, background music (beside the drumming), engage more the crowd...none of this was done, just an overpopulated poorly lighted space, with painted people dancing randomly around you.
Then, the "after party"...asking at the Hub (where i bought the festival tickets), nobody really knew how to get these other after-party tickets, I have intensively surfed the entire web-sphere but there was no way to get it. I went at the Caves, before 1am (around 00.30) and the bouncer told me that they (the Beltane Organizers) would have sold other tickets for it, but i should have come around 1am. I did so, and the same bouncer now told me that there were no more tickets. Are we jocking, or what? Just state clearly that this after party is mainly for the people involved in the organization (and possibly their friends), and don't cheat blatantly about it just to get more interest around the whole event.
Be honest with what you give...at the end, it is surely a brilliant idea to celebrate rites of nature and I loved that, but please...either ask less money for it or at least try to organize it better...
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