ORGANISERS of this year’s Beltane Fire Festival have vowed to make it more “family friendly” as they look to drive up the number of spectators at the world-famous event.
The festival – which is the biggest of its kind in Europe – has in the past attracted around 12,000 people to Calton Hill but last year saw just 8000 take part in the festivities.
This year’s event on Wednesday, April 30, will feature a family parade for the first time before the main event kicks off later in the evening.
The festival, now in its 21st year, heralds the start of summer, according to the ancient Celtic calendar and features red-painted naked dancers, druid spirit guides and massive fire sculptures.
Festival spokeswoman Robyn Hambrook today insisted that the new “family” image would have no bearing on Beltane traditions.
“The event is staying as it always is – we’re just trying to make it more inclusive,” she confirmed.
“The nudity happens late at night so any parents who stay with their children to see the festival that late are probably not concerned by it.
“It’s a celebration of summer after all, so that should include everyone.”
The family parade will begin at 6.30pm behind the acropolis, where the main performances will take place later in the evening. Children can take part in arts workshops, have their faces painted and listen to storytelling and music which explains the story of the festival. The main procession takes place from 9pm to 1am.
This year’s festival also sees the return of dance and performance artist, Lindsay John. John, who has a background in the Japanese dance style Butoh, was influential in Beltane’s debut in 1987. In the following years he helped develop the characters of the White Women and the Red Men, which form the basis of the performance today. The dancer is lending his skills to help with the choreography, artistic direction and costume design for the festival.
Ms Hambrook added: “He has lots of experience and brings an outside eye. He’s got a strong Butoh background and has been doing some workshops to help us to develop and not be too literal with our performances.”
Just a couple of hundred revellers first gathered on Calton Hill to celebrate the start of spring in 1987, but it has now become a fixture of the Edinburgh events calendar. It is estimated around 5000 performers and 150,000 spectators have been involved with Beltane in the past two decades.
On the night itself, hundreds of performers lead a fire-lit procession around the hill. They move through a fire gate and round points representing earth, air, water and fire. The festivities reach a climax when the Green Man, a symbol of the first growth of summer, arrives and is crowned by the May Queen.
The Beltane Fire society began charging for tickets in 2004, a year after it had to be cancelled when the council insisted the society take out a public entertainment licence. The event has also attracted controversy in previous years, with local residents complaining about the noise and risk of fire.
• Tickets for this year’s festival are now available priced £5 either online at
www.beltane.org or in person at The Hub, Castlehill. A limited number of tickets will also be sold on the night costing £7 and available from Calton Hill’s Carriage Drive entrance.
