Your chance to design the poster for Beltane 2019

With preparations for the Beltane Fire Festival 2019 beginning (already!), it’s time to invite you to submit your beautiful artwork to feature in our festival’s promotional material.

The chosen submission will be on posters and flyers all over Edinburgh in the run up to 30th April, and will also be used in our online promotion and press advertising for the event. Anyone is welcome to enter, so if you have arty friends please feel free to pass this on to them!

THE STORY

The concept of the Beltane Fire Festival originates from the Scottish and Irish Gaelic pre-Christian festival of the same name, while the title ‘Beltane’ is derived from a Gaelic Celtic word meaning ‘bright/sacred fire’. Originally, the Beltane festival was held to mark and celebrate the blossoming of Summer and was thought to have been held on the first full moon after the 1st May.

As darkness falls on 30th April, the epic drum beats begin and a magical procession around Calton Hill sets off, led by the May Queen, who encounters many strange and wonderful characters in the form of painted and costumed performers and acrobats. The Green Man is then ‘killed’ by the May Queen, stripped of his Winter guise and resurrected for the rebirth of Summer in a dramatic ritual performance before the lighting of the traditional Beltane bonfire.

Beltane is a time for celebration, fertility, new beginnings and, of course, fire! Think along the themes of brightness, freshness, emergence, new life and growth. Our poster and flyer should appeal to the wider community in Edinburgh and beyond. It should reflect the story and characters highlighted above to draw in those who know the Beltane story, but also to attract newcomers to our festival.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

You must submit one design for the poster (A2 size) AND both a front and back side for the flyer (A6 size), at the same time and using the same artwork and colour scheme to keep a uniform look.
The size (with required bleed edge) for A6 flyers is 111mm x 154mm
The size (with required bleed edge) for A2 posters is 426mm x 600mm
Remember to leave any text or important visual elements at least 7mm from the edges for printing.
You should save your full-resolution files at 300dpi.
Please ensure that all files are in CMYK colour format, not RGB.
Make sure that you save a copy of your work with layers, preferably in .psd format, for easier editing. You do not need to send this to us as your submission, but if your design is chosen we will need it.
Alternatively, if creating a completely digitally illustrated image, saving the file as a vector graphic is helpful as it will scale better and be easier to work with if changes are needed before sending to print.
Optional – You can choose to include all of the text and social media elements as listed in this zip file, or make sure to leave space on your posters and flyers and we will try to fit them in.
Everything in your submission (apart from the downloadable elements provided) absolutely must be your own work or created with elements that you have permission to use. If you use any stock imagery, photography, free or purchased, you must be able to provide evidence of legitimate sources if asked. Please check the relevant licensing for any fonts that you use and be able to provide this information if asked. Although BFS is a charity, it is also a registered company, so please only use fonts that are licensed for commercial use to be on the safe side.
We will accept submissions from pairs of artists/designers. For example, if you’re an amazing illustrator and you have a friend who is great at layouts, feel free to work together and submit under both your names.
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(s) on there somewhere.

SENDING YOUR SUBMISSION

Your submission should include three separate files: A2 poster, A6 flyer front and A6 flyer back.
When sending your designs for consideration, please make them 1000px on the longest side and send in jpeg format. You do not need to send larger versions or files with layers at this stage. In fact, absolutely do not submit larger versions or files with layers at this stage.
You can submit more than one entry if you like, but please submit each only once. There is no need to send a draft or sketch first, and there’s no advantage to submitting early. If it takes you right up until the deadline to complete your work, then please take that time. All submissions will be considered at the same time after the deadline.
Because of time constraints and the need for printing and promotional activity to begin as early as possible in the run-up to the festival, we will only accept finished work. This means that all the text and additional elements absolutely must be included. Please do not send image-only submissions.
Email your submission to festival[at]beltane[dot]org and contact this address with any questions you may have
THE DEADLINE IS SATURDAY 19th JANUARY 2019

ABOUT ARTWORK OWNERSHIP

As the creator of your artwork, YOU own it and by submitting it for the competition are granting BFS license to keep it in digital and physical archives, display it for public voting and use it in promotional activities, online and offline, globally and in perpetuity.
You are welcome to sell prints and products featuring your artwork, without any of the provided text, BFS branding or elements included in the downloadable design pack, should you wish to do so.

ABOUT SELECTION OF FINAL ARTWORK

Once all submissions have been received, the BFS Board of Trustees will create a shortlist of entries which are appropriate to promote the event, and select a final entry to use. There will not be a public vote: criteria for selection will include quality of artwork, suitability as a representation of the festival and Beltane Fire Society, appeal to potential attendees, and clarity of presentation of information/legibility. Entrants will be informed by email as to whether or not they have been successful. In the event that no submissions are deemed suitable, the trustees may make alternative arrangements.

We are hugely grateful to all those who put in the time and creativity it takes to submit a poster design.

Here are some of our recent Beltane posters to help inspire you!