Beltane Fire Festival

• 30 April 2023
• £7.00 - £15.00 per person + booking fee
• Calton Hill

Join Beltane Fire Festival and celebrate the end of winter with fiery displays, elaborate costumes and immersive storytelling.

(Image Credit Gordon Veitch)

Taking place on Calton Hill on the evening of 30 April, Beltane Fire Festival is a modern reinterpretation of an ancient Iron Age Celtic ritual celebrating the first signs of summer.

Acrobatics, drummers, dancers, clowns, musicians, actors and puppeteers all take to the outdoor space of Calton Hill in an awe-inspiring cavalcade of dancing, music and theatre as the May Queen entices the Green Man from his wintry guise to rule together over the summer months.

Today’s Festival is inspired by the ancient Gaelic festival of Beltane which began on the evening before 1 May and marked the beginning of summer. Having been resurrected and reinterpreted as a practice in 1988, it has become a popular event for the city and is Europe’s largest ritual celebration of this ancient Celtic tradition.

Guests are welcome to bring their own food and drink (please do not bring glass bottles/containers) and there will also be a small number of food & drink vendors.

As this is an outdoor event, please dress according to the weather conditions. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult with a ticket.

Tickets should be pre-booked in advance online. Book your ticket here > 

  (Image  Credit Kasia Sowinska)