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Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Beltane Fire Festival lights up Edinburgh sky as thousands turn out for annual event


By Dailyrecord.co.uk


1 May 2013 09:33


THE Beltane Fire festival on Edinburgh's Calton Hill is held to mark the start of summer each year with theatre displays, dance and acrobatics.


The Beltane festival celebrates the coming of summer and the beginning of May.
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FIRE illuminated the Edinburgh sky as thousands of people gathered to watch a modern take on an ancient Gaelic festival.

The Beltane Fire festival on Edinburgh's Calton Hill is held to mark the start of summer each year with theatre displays, dance and acrobatics.

Starting as darkness fell over the capital, a fire procession wound its way up the hill, stopping at set locations where different groups performed.

The festival is focused on two central figures, the May Queen and the Green Man, who led the procession to a massive bonfire which is lit to welcome what participants see as the first morning of summer.

Organised by the Beltane Fire Society, the modern festival started in 1988 as a community event which has grown each year as more acts join the line-up.

The ancient Beltane was historically held on the mid point between the spring equinox and summer solstice and fire was used to encourage crops to grow and cattle to produce during the summer.



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1 May 2013 Last updated at 07:14 ET

Day in pictures: 1 May 2013





The annual pagan-inspired Beltane Fire festival in Edinburgh gets under way on Calton Hill. It marks the beginning of summer and celebrates an ancient Celtic festival.


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