11,000 revellers bring in the summer at Beltane Fire Festival - with slideshow

Published on Friday 1 May 2009 09:42

IT'S the festival that heralds the start of the summer and if Beltane 2009 is anything to go by it's going to be a hot one.

The Beltane Fire Festival, which takes place every year on Calton Hill as April turns to May, lit the sacred fires of summer in front of 11,000 revellers last night.

The May Queen started the summer by evoking all four elements – air, earth, water and fire – before banishing the horned-god of winter and bringing forth her consort the Green Man to breathe new life into the Earth.

The festival is renowned for its lustful atmosphere as this year's May Queen and Green Man proxies Fenella Hodgson and Rupert Smith found out when their three-month-old son Reuben was conceived on the night of Beltane 2008.

It's enough to make any mother want to lock up her daughters, which is exactly what 59-year-old health visitor Sue Ingold, from Buckinghamshire, considered when her daughter told her she was going to perform at the festival.

"She showed me photos and it looked like one big orgy," said Sue, whose daughter Sophie, 25, was performing as a processional drummer. "But I thought, hey, I'm a liberal mum and one must let one's children do what they want."

If last night's international crowd was anything to go by, people come from all corners of the Earth to be in Edinburgh on April 30.

Erica Roest, 42, a care worker and part time faith healer from Holland, was attracted by the festival's spiritual vibe.

She said: "I heal people by passing my energy into them, and coming to a festival that harnesses the energy of the four elements was really appealing to me."

Secretary Manuela Villbelg, 48, from Munich, wanted to see how Scotland celebrated Walburgisnacht, the Bavarian fertility feast of St Walburga, which is also celebrated on April 30. "I haven't been disappointed," she said.

The man responsible for keeping last night's procession moving was 33-year-old first time producer Zeb Shaw, who took over this year from the long-serving Pete Renwick.

"Beltane's an obsession and Pete was still around to give me advice even though he could have just enjoyed it as a spectator," said Zeb, no stranger to the sight of naked flesh after spending ten years as a massage therapist before moving into events management. Zeb has previously performed as an Earth Point tribesman, a white woman and a fiery red man.

Sgt David Hynd, coordinating last night's police operation, said Beltane 2009 went off without incident, with no arrests and no major casualties. "It was a fairly uneventful event in policing terms," said Sgt Hynd.