Samhuinn Fire Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- I had plans to visit and film the Beltane Fire Festival on Calton Hill this year, but sadly, like most events, it was cancelled this year. It was an event I was really looking forward to and I'm keeping my fingers firmly crossed that its sister event - the Samhuinn Fire Festival manages to go ahead this autumn.
Anyway, I suddenly remembered I had a bit of footage from the Samhuinn Fire Festival from a couple of years ago and thought it might be fun to put that up to show you just how spectacularly atmospheric these fire festivals are. The video quality isn't great at 720p, but hopefully you'll still enjoy it. The beltane committee and all performers are volunteers and do an incredible amount of work to create one of the most visually spectacular events on the Scottish calendar. If you're here in Edinburgh at the end of April, or at Halloween, I thoroughly recommend getting some tickets and going along.
The Samhuinn Fire Festival is held by the Beltane Fire Society at Calton Hill, on Halloween, every year. The event marks the transition from Summer to Winter and is dramatically portrayed by a stand-off between the Summer and Winter Kings. A Celtic goddess called 'Cailleach' ultimately decides the fate of each of the Kings as the cold, winter months are ushered in.
The Beltane Fire Society (www.beltane.org) describes Samhuinn as "A night where the veil that splits both worlds grows thinner, a night where spirits can touch the souls of the living. A night to reflect on the year gone by and to look forward to the one to come."
For the ancient Celts, 'Samhain' was the time of year when nature seemed to be dying. A time to bring the cattle in from summer pastures for the protection of lowland fields during the winter months. Ultimately a battle between light and dark.
The Beltane Fire Society is run by a voluntary committee and all performers are volunteers. For all their events please visit their website at www.beltane.org.
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Something a little different - the Samhuinn Fire Festival held every year at Halloween in Edinburgh. I was hoping to film some new footage at the April Fire Festival which was sadly cancelled due to the pandemic. However, I found this old footage from a few years back and thought it might be worth posting again to give you a flavour of these spectacular Edinburgh fire festivals. Sorry about the poor quality resolution! If you're in Edinburgh at the end of April, or on Halloween, I can thoroughly recommend buying tickets and going along.
I knew about the Beltane Fire Festival, but hadn't heard of or realised there was another Festival held on Halloween. As you say hopefully it will go ahead this year, I shall certainly be on the look out for tickets. 👍
Hi Martyn, hope you're safe and well. Yes, I very rarely meet anyone that knows about the Samhuinn on Halloween. The performers are all volunteers and they really do put on a great show. It's maybe not for everyone, but I love the sheer irreverance and wildness of it. I'm hoping that Nicola will announce a bit of easing on the current lockdown tomorrow, so that I can start exploring again and make some new films. Is there anywhere I can film that you'd like to see? Thanks for your kind, continued support. Best wishes, David :-)
@@DavidWheaterScotland Hi David, I hope you are too are safe and well, I'm not sure if any of your video's have covered it yet, but maybe a video around Dr Neil's Garden would be nice once we are allowed out and about. Martyn.
@@martynjg Hi Martyn, that's an excellent suggestion, one of my favourite places and on my list. I'll see if I can arrange a visit when it's back open. Thanks, David
Thanks for sharing I hadn't heard of this one either...Definitely looks like it's worth checking out
Hi Jim, hope you're well and getting through lockdown OK. We're waiting for the First Minister to start easing the lockdown tomorrow, so I'm really hoping I can get some proper filming started again soon. I really love these festivals for their flamboyance and vitality. Edinburgh can be quite a conservative place at times and it's nice to see something a little different. Do you have a favourite place in Edinburgh or somewhere you'd like me to film? Take care and thanks as always for your support, best wishes, David :-)