They say a picture is a thousand words, and we definitely think that’s true of our new poster. We could not be happier to share this design with you, which contains so much of the Beltane story and the elements that our central to our community. Congratulations to our volunteer Nathan Kelso for putting together this brilliant image.

The May Queen and Green Man’s kiss is a pivotal moment in our festival. The May Queen has restored the Green Man from his wintry state – which was gnarled, mean, and chaotic – and he can now rejoin her as her consort. When they kiss the first spark of summer is ignited, which is then fully reborn when they light the bonfire together. It is a moment of joy and energy for our whole community.

There are the luscious flowers that represent the summer that the May Queen brings, and also the bare branches of the Green Man’s winter aspect. In them we can see the cold season that we are leaving behind, the triumph of life over winter, and the constant cycle of renewal that the seasons promise.

Notice the arch in the background? On the night of Beltane the veil between our and the spiritual world is lifted, leaving strange and otherworldly creatures free to roam the human realm. At our festival, this is represented by a fire arch that the whole procession must pass through before continuing its journey around Calton Hill.

We encourage you to take your time looking over the poster and thinking about the story that we, and generations of Beltaners before us, tell again and again each year. A massive thank you again to Nathan for all his hard work on the design.

Tickets for Beltane Fire Festival 2018 are now on sale from Tickets Scotland. You can read more about the festival here.

How the poster is chosen

Nathan’s design was submitted anonymously and then judged by a small sub-group of board members and Blues. Care was taken to make sure that no one who was submitting an entry was involved in the decision-making. If you have any questions about the selection process, please feel free to email chair[at]beltane[dot]org.