Update: All groups are full so contact information removed.
Hi All!
It’s now a couple of weeks since the Open Meeting and we’re off to a great start! However, if you still haven’t got involved with Beltane this year… maybe you weren’t sure which group to join, maybe you joined one and it didn’t work out, maybe you thought you might be too busy and now you realise you are not, maybe you joined the announcements mailing list yesterday and had no idea there was an Open Meeting at all… never fear, you can still join us!
Several groups are not quite up to their maximum numbers yet and are eager to take in new Volunteers! If any of the following interest you, please don’t hesitate to get in contact and be welcomed into Beltane’s warm and loving bosom.
Earth Point
This year Earth Point will be presenting their Element through traditional folk dances, which
originated with agricultural workers and are deeply rooted in the land and the seasons. They will be
doing big, stompy, loud, noisy, clompy folk dances, and are looking for enthusiastic dancers and folk
musicians – either on traditional instruments or home-made instruments and percussion. They are
also seeking elemental torchbearers. Group organisers James Flack and Pam Jouarie will be teaching
all the dances so no experience is necessary, so if you ever wanted to have a crack at Molly dance,
Rapper dance, or any kind of folk dance, Earth point will be right up your street.
Practice sessions will be held on Wednesdays and occasional Sundays.
The next session is on Wednesday the 16th of March, meeting in the Doctors Pub at 8pm.
No Point
What is the Point of No Point? Well… No Point will be roaming the hill at large, entertaining the
audience with prepared skits and sketches and spontaneous improvisation. They will be presenting
an imaginative representation of the random diversity of people, characters and elements called
together by Beltane, creating strong individual characters using totems, archetypes and stories. They
bridge the gap between the human and faerie realms, engaging the audience in magical and
humorous adventures. The No Point GO this year is Jamie “Blue” Dean.
No Point will be meeting on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Auditions for the final places in No Point will be held on Wednesday the 16th of March at 9pm, on Calton Hill by the Acropolis.
Bower
The Bower aim to welcome all the performers into their sacred space by embodying the spirit of
hospitality and the essence of love. Also, cake. Lots of cake. The Bower is a Temple of Love where all
performers gather at the end of the night to be fed and watered and come together as a community.
The Bower is closing and grounding ritual for the Beltane festival, it is where the procession emerges
from the Underworld. They are looking for a really tight group of people who will be able to bring
the whole Beltane community together. The Bower intend to spend time with all the other groups
finding out what their requirements are for the end of the night and forming inter-group bonds. If
you love Love, and you love cake, the Bower will welcome your baking skills (and your loving skills)!
Group Organisers for the Bower are Zander Bruce and Laura Jeacock.
They are meeting on Mondays and Saturdays.
Nightwatch
Want to be involved but not sure which group to join? Stewarding is a fantastic introduction to
Beltane for new members, and a great way for existing members who have other time commitments
this year to continue to contribute something vital to our festival. Without Stewards and
Torchbearers to protect and light the Procession as it travels around the hill, Beltane could not
happen. Stewarding is low time commitment as there is only one practice session per week, and
costume requirements are very basic. Our Stewards and Torchbearers are keen to welcome new
volunteers looking for their first taste of what it means to be part of Beltane Fire Festival, and also
experienced members willing to impart their skills to our new generation of Nightwatch!
Nightwatch train on Sunday afternoons, and have an informal pub social every Thursday evening.
CounterPoint are no longer recruiting drummers but they do need four torchbearers to accompany
them around the hill. Counterpoint Torchbearers will attend group rehearsals and do character work
with the rest of the group.
A brand new group of drummers for this Beltane, Counterpoint introduce a representation of the
last shreds and remnants of the forces of Winter, drifting around the hill in the wake of the
procession. They will begin the night in a dreamlike state, cast off by the Goddess in her
transformation from wintery Cailleach to the maiden May Queen and yet lingering in essence until
her consort the Horned God is also renewed as the Green Man. As the Green Man is reborn, they
will undergo a transformation, waking from their wintery dreams to embrace the first day of
Summer.
Don’t delay, sign up for Beltane today! You wouldn’t want to miss all the fun, now would you?
Best wishes and big Beltane hugs!
Claire and the Beltane Volunteers team
