There’s more than one route to getting involved in Beltane Fire Festival, and a great way to join the fun is by helping out behind-the-scenes. If you are looking to dip your toe into the Beltane community, get more experience with events, or meet lots of new and lovely people, then our Steward and Tech teams would love to hear from you.

VOLUNTEER AS A STEWARD WITH NIGHTWATCH

Stewarding is an easy way to get to know our community if you are new to the festival or simply low on spare time. You’ll have front row seats on the night of Beltane, where you will help maintain performance spaces, answer questions from audience members, work with the production crew and emergency services, and generally assist in making sure that everybody has a joyful and safe night.

Our Stewards are part of Nightwatch, the ever watchful guardians who maintain the barrier between our world and the next. They act as a window onto the Otherworldly realm that emerges on the night of Beltane by sharing the significance of our celebrations and helping to direct witnesses to vantage spots around Calton Hill.

Stewards are a low-commitment group with weekly meetings every Sunday afternoon on Calton Hill – it is preferable if you show up to as many as you can, but just let the organisers know if you can’t make any.

Anyone looking to join will need to do at least one Walkthrough (which take place on two Sundays in April, dates TBA) and complete our fire safety training.

To sign up with our Stewards, email Ross and Andy at stewards[at]beltane[dot]org

HELP BUILD THE FESTIVAL WITH TECH POINT

Tech Point are the makers, builders, and take down-ers of our community who transform Calton Hill for the night of Beltane Fire Festival. If you’re good at making stuff, or would like to learn some new practical skills, you’ll feel right at home with this group.

In the lead-up to the festival, you will be busy building and getting everything ready to take up the Hill, from fire sculptures to puppets and other imaginative props that our performers dream up. 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 meet weekly on Sundays from 2.00pm to 4.00pm in Beltonia, as well as working to build and take down the festival in the days leading up to Thursday 30 April and on Friday 1 May.

To join Tech Point, email Daniel and Peter at tech[at]beltane[dot]org

Featured image by Duncan Reddish for Beltane Fire Society. All rights reserved.

Tickets for Beltane Fire Festival are available to buy online from Citizen Ticket. Join the Facebook event here.