Lughnasadh is a harvest festival, where the first fruits of the harvest are celebrated on or around the 1st August, and is named after the god Lugh.

Lugh was a popular sun god, worshipped throughout the Celtic world. In Gaul, he was identified as Lugus or Lug. Because Lugus was identified as the solar god, the Greeks identified Lugus with the sun god Apollo. In Wales, he was called Lleu, while in Ireland, he was called Lugh or Lug. He was popularly called Lugh Lamfada – “Lugh of the Long Arms”, as well as Lugh Samildánach – “Skilled in All the Arts”. It is said that Lugh instituted an event similar to the Olympic games called the Assembly of Talti which finished on Lughnasadh (1 August) in memory of his foster-mother, Tailtiu, at the town that bears her name (now Teltown, County Meath).

The community of the Beltane Fire Society has celebrated Lughnasadh in a variety of ways over the years. Often games are held in the afternoon of the festival and winners of the games are then selected to be perfomers in the evening ritual celebration.