You’ve heard of this thing called Beltane, and you think you might like to get involved. You know that they run two fire festivals each year, and that one of them is coming up in just a few weeks, but you’re not actually sure how to take part or what skills you might need…

We’re here to tell you about two super easy ways that you can join our community and help us put on the amazing Beltane Fire Festival. You don’t need to be an acrobat, or a drummer, or even an expert with fire. What we’re looking for are generally awesome people keen to lend a helping hand as a Steward or part of our Tech team.

Volunteer as a Steward with NightWatch

Our Stewards are the friendly faces who form a bridge between our witnesses and the spirits and creatures who come to visit on the night of Beltane.

You will play the key role of keeping our performers safe, answering questions from people who have come to witness the festival, and helping our volunteers and security behind-the-scenes to keep Beltane running smoothly.

If you are looking for a low-key way to get involved, being a Steward is a great way to go about it. Anyone looking to volunteer will need to do at least one walkthrough and complete our fire safety training. We are accepting new Stewards up until the Second Walkthrough on Sunday 28 April.

That said, the more practices you can make beforehand the better – Stewards meet between 1-3:00pm on Calton Hill (meeting by the cannon) every Sunday between now and the festival. If you cannot make that time, just get in touch with our Group Organisers who will do their best to help you out.

To join, or if you have any questions, you can get in touch with Night Watch at nightwatchstewards[at]beltane[dot]org.

Help build the festival with Tech Point

We transform Calton Hill into another world on the night of Beltane with the help of fire sculptures, puppets, and other imaginative props that our performers dream up. That is where Tech Point comes in.

If you’re good at making stuff, or would like to learn some new practical skills, you’ll feel right at home in Tech Point. In the lead-up to the festival, you will be busy building and getting everything ready to take up the hill. On the day, you will take care of decorations and building the stages, as well as setting up the glamorous stuff like fences, toilets, and crowd barriers. You are then in charge of moving the Neid fire between key points at the festival, making sure that our performers have all the toys and fire effects that they need. At the end of it all, you take everything down again.

Tech Point welcome people of all skill levels – we just need people who are up for working hard while having fun. We will be accepting volunteers up until the Second Walkthrough, although the sooner you join up the better. If you are interested in joining, then let us know at tech[at]beltane[dot]org.