With preparations for the Samhuinn Fire Festival beginning, it’s time to invite you to submit your beautiful artwork for consideration for the Samhuinn 2012 poster. The chosen submission will be on posters and flyers all over Edinburgh and will also be used in our online promotion and press advertising in the run-up to the festival. ALL members of BFS are welcome to submit their creations and if you have any arty friends who think could make something amazing for us, feel free to pass this information on to them.

THE STORY

Samhuinn is a time of the changing of the seasons, of the battle between summer and winter and of the Celtic new year – a time when the veil draws thin and the spirits draw closer to us.

Our Samhuinn festival has its roots in medieval street theatre, the traditions of all Hallow’s Eve. the Summer and Winter Kings battle for control of the seasons, overseen by the Cailleach, whose grief and sorrow at the death of summer brings forth the darkness and storms of winter. It is a time for celebration, summers ‘last gasp’ of opulent decadence, but also a time of icy bleakness – the finality of winter’s arrival and the hard months ahead.

Our event is a community celebration of this changing of the seasons – and our poster should appeal to the wider community in Edinburgh and beyond. It should reflect the story and characters highlighted above to appeal to draw in those who know the Samhuinn story, but also attract those who are newcomers to our festivals.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

– The largest poster we print is A2 (594 x 420 mm) so please ensure that your submission is this size at 300dpi.

– Because of the need to print a large poster from the chosen design, it’s advisable not to submit something which you only have a tiny copy of. A postcard-sized painting is never going to look great printed to A2 size, even with a fantastically good scan or photo taken of it.

– When printing posters and flyers, a bleed edge is required. This is the part of the image at the edge which shouldn’t contain any important details. The exact size of the bleed edge varies between printing services, so to be on the safe side please keep any important details at least 2 cms from each edge. If you’re having difficulty with this, don’t worry – we can help you with it or add a border if required.

– Please ensure that all files are in CMYK colour format, NOT RGB!

– We will be adding information in the form of text, as well as a BFS logo, to the finished design. Although the placement of this depends on the design that we choose to use, it’s worth bearing in mind when creating your submission.

– You are welcome to include the text Samhuinn Fire Festival 2012 in your artwork if you feel that your submission would benefit from having the text in a similar style to the artwork, but this isn’t necessary or essential.

– Don’t forget to sign your artwork! We appreciate that you’re offering your creations on a voluntary basis, so we’d like you to have your signature on there somewhere 🙂

SENDING YOUR SUBMISSION

– Please submit your poster designs in DIGITAL format. If your submission is a painting or drawing, please take a clear, sharp scan or photograph of it. Remember that this scan or photograph is your final submission so must be of printable quality!

– If you’re having major difficulties with obtaining a high-quality scan or photograph of your submission, don’t let this put you off submitting your artwork. Just send the best digital file you have and we can help you take it from there if your design is chosen.

– Please submit your image files as PSD (with layers) if possible. If you have no option but to send a ‘flat’ file (like if you’ve scanned a painting) you can send it as s PSD, PNG or TIFF.

– If your file is very large (as it probably will be) you’re welcome to use a free file sending service such as DropBox or SendThisFile.com to send the file to scribe@beltane.org

– THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS 20TH AUGUST 2012!

If you have any questions, please contact scribe@beltane.org and we’ll do our best to help. Looking forward to seeing your creations!