Samhuinn Fire Festival

Samhuinn has been staged in Edinburgh since 1995, first on the Royal Mile and on Calton Hill since 2018. The story is always the same one: the Summer King overthrown by the Winter King, judged by the Cailleach, the divine hag of Celtic myth, with fire performers, drummers and torchlight all around. A bonfire opens the rituals. The whole thing is volunteer-run by Beltane Fire Society, the community arts charity formed in 1988, and tickets sell through Citizen Ticket only, usually from late September.