Samhuinn 2020 Group Info

Ahead of tomorrow’s digital Open Meeting, we are so excited to share the performance groups that will make up the story of this year’s Samhuinn Fire Festival.

Things are going to look quite different this year, with the bulk of our festival taking place online. Our volunteers have risen to the challenge this presents, and come up with a mix of remote digital pods, in-person outdoors pods and in-person indoor pods. We hope that this tiered approach to interactions will allow you to find a place to take part in our festival, whether you’re sheltering or looking for more real life collaborations.

When you initially sign up to one of our groups, whether by email or at the Open Meeting, we will collect your name and email address so our Group Organisers can keep in touch with updates directly related to your voluntary engagement. We will not use your information for any other purpose without first asking for your consent and we will not share your email with external organisations.

Below is a video compilation of all the pod organisers, Blues, board and staff helping to put together this year’s Samhuinn Fire Festival. Watch the full video, or scroll down to hear from individual pods. The individual pod videos are captioned.

CAILLEACHAN

Email: cailleachan[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Sarah Barr and Maïlis Marty

Pod type: In-person outdoor (meetings of up to 2 households, max 6 people)

This group is closed.

We were once Whites, we are now Calleachan. We have followed the turn of the wheel, from Summer to Winter. We spend our Summer sleeping under the roots of tree, when we awaken we go to the stream to wash off the sleepiness and the summer warmth. We embrace the cold and the darkness, but we know that in Winter we can find light, serenity, community and fire. We really want to present Winter as something, serene and joyful, and not something to fear.

Fairie Porters

Email: fairieporters[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Neil Rhind and Giulia Frontalini

Pod type: Digital group, remote working (no limit on group numbers)

This group is open.

The group plans to make short, self-enclosed films, setting poetry to video footage that reflects the darker, fae-tinged side of the festival. Total tech novices are very welcome, as are people with video making, audio producing and other handy digital skills.

Family Samhuinn

Email: familysamhuinn[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Lorraine Prince and Rae Chell

Pod type: Digital group, remote working (no limit on group numbers)

This group is open.

Creating family-friendly activities and content for the lead up to the festival. Dance, poetry, music, nature trails – all ideas are welcome! This group is also up for collaborations with other groups in the festival, so if you wish to make something fun based on another group concept you’re working on, do get in touch.

The Samhuinn Global Sojourn

Email: globalsojourn[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Hannah Smith and Nico Marrone

Pod type: Digital group, remote working (no limit on group numbers)

This group is open.

The Samhuinn Festival is centered in Edinburgh and is Scottish to its core. But it has never been limited to just Scottish volunteers and has encouraged and brought in experiences and views from around the world. Sojourn aims to involve volunteers who are geographically outside of Edinburgh. Maybe this group contains experienced performers who’ve moved away from Edinburgh. Maybe they’ve never been involved but have longingly watched from far away. All are welcome to join our Sojourn.

This will be a compilation of video clips based on participants’ own personal Samhuinns around the globe, incorporating a mix of performances (spinning, dancing, singing) and spoken word.

Na Leumadairean Mòra (The Big Dolphins)

Email: naleumadaireanmora[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Eleanor Buffam and Joe Lotito

Pod type: In-person outdoor (meetings of up to 2 households, max 6 people) potentially with an extra remote digital pod

This group is closed.

We are a Gaelic singing group made up of an enchanted pod of gender fluid dolphins who live in the Moray Firth. Once a year on Samhuinn we assume human forms and walk upon the earth. We yearn to avenge our comrades who have been caught in the nets of supertrawlers or killed by pollution. We express ourselves in the form of music and song, some which come from the Gaelic tradition which we will reinterpret, and some of which are new compositions. The spirit of the group encompasses sorrow and anger at the injustices and the damage done to our ocean home, as well as great joy in the resilience of all life, in spite of adversity.

Neidfire

Email: neidfire[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Feòrag Forsyth and Raymond Jardine

Pod type: In-person outdoor (meetings of up to 2 households, max 6 people) with potential for an extra remote digital pod

This group is closed.

A fire festival needs fire, and the Neidfire team will bring that fire into being, using ancient methods. We will use that fire to light torches and symbolically bring the sacred fire to other groups. Practically, the Pod will gather at a suitable space on Calton Hill and make Neidfire. We would additionally make some short segments of the fire being passed between torches, for use by whoever wants to use it.

The Omega Point

Email: omegapoint[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Callum Donald and Miriam Wolanski

Pod type: In-person outdoor (meetings of up to 2 households, max 6 people)

This group is closed.

This performance will illustrate sensations felt when summers revelry goes too far, and becomes frantic and burnt-out. The tempering hand of winter finally helps the summer spirit to rest, and relieves the burden of never-ending revelry. 

This performance will use rhythm-work, acrobatic dance and aerial performance to display the different energies of summer and winter. The project will also make use of video and audio techniques to complement the telling of the story.

Redishes

Email: redishes[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Dex de Cruz and Katharina Wegerer

Pod type: Digital group, remote working (no limit on group numbers)

This group is open.

We are the embodiment of summer, joyful sunny revelry, discovery of all that is new and blooming and warm and pretty and exciting (to us). Yet while we continue to explore and celebrate for as long as we can, we eventually have to realise that our time – like the Summer King’s – is coming to an end, and in a world that is preparing for winter, our place might be somewhere more cosy, more quiet than we’re used to.

In several video sequences, we will try to capture the growth/progression of the Reds together with the turning of the wheel, the passing of summer and the beginning of a colder, darker, maybe also calmer and more contemplative time of the year. These videos will be individually produced by members and then compiled into a bigger project. Whoever wants to join and contribute can submit 1-4 short videos.

Tales from the Hearth

Email: tales[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Nikki Harrison

Pod type: Digital group, remote working (no limit on group numbers) with the option to form smaller in-person pods

This group is open.

A storytelling group communicating what the Samhuinn narrative is, and a couple of supplementary tales from Celtic mythology. Members do not need many technical skills – just the ability to record audio on a phone or other recording device, and a knack for spinning a yarn.

The Tale of the Neep Lantern

Email: TBC

Organisers: Sarah Barr and Antony Edward

Pod type: In-person indoor pod (meetings of up to 2 households, max 6 people)

This group is closed.

We’ll tell a cosy horror story, in the form of a poem and film with accompanying music, about the value of the humble neep lantern, and Avoiding The Weird Lights In The Woods. There may be some shadow puppetry. Emphasis to be placed on scaring the patchwork pants off of people in the kind of way that makes you grin wildly afterwards.

Taobh an Teine (Fireside)

Email: taobhanteine[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Adam Dahmer

Pod type: Digital group, remote working (no limit on group numbers)

This group is open. Seeking up to three additional members.

A performance songs and poetry written in English and Gaelic written by Adam. The poems and songs are all, in one way or another about transitions – leaving the past behind, marking events, hoping for a new and better future.

Veles

Email: veles[at]beltane[dot]org (please also fill in this survey form when you apply)

Organisers: Iga Sobieraj, Camilla Nytun and Sean Hamilton

Pod type: In-person outdoor (meetings of up to 2 households, max 6 people) with potential for extra remote digital contributions

This group is open. Seeking people comfortable with physical performance, especially with fire.

Give us your sweat, your Bam*, your face and body paint, your fire, & your willingness to be  very silly. And also a focus and devotion to fire and conflict that would make mud weep. We want to have a mixture of playfulness & polished performance going through several stages, of the dead rising, humans in retreat, human resurgence with offerings & purifying of the dead, and a final fiery set piece of balance before the dead withdraw.

A mixed choreographed and structured free style performance involving fire & toys, sound, character work, body movements, roaming scenes, distanced interaction/back and forths to basic drum beats. To be broken down into sections, aimed towards a series of minor public rehearsals every few weeks or so for a final full performance.

Structure and form will be inspired from a blend of Celtic and Slavic roots and modern interpretations, incorporating Slavic culture & the deity Veles (underworld, music etc.) with the shared Slavic festival of Dziady, representing the liminal time between worlds, seasonal change and pre-winter cleansing/enjoying the fruits of Summer.

We will also be in communication with Dziady performance groups & the University of Warsaw to extend our research & co-operation and gain more source material to draw inspiration from. Mask making of Karaboshka (masks that protect the living from the dead) will also be an important part.

Let’s get WiErD..o…

*A Scottish colloquialism, meaning to ruffle the feathers of others**

**An English idiom about worrying ducks, meaning to Bam. 

Our mock trailer for Samhuinn 2020
Our lockdown video for the cancelled past Beltane 2020 (skip to 1:45 for the main body)
Our mock trailer for Beltane 2020

Wild Hunt

Email: wildhunt[at]beltane[dot]org

Organisers: Jonathan Crombie and Anna Gebruk

Pod type: In-person outdoor (meetings of up to 2 households, max 6 people)

This group is open. Seeking people comfortable with physical performance, especially acro and character work.

Our Wild Hunt concept is a group of acrobatic hunters who are searching Edinburgh for the Summer Court, driving them towards Winter and their end. Not looking for a kill, but to watch over & make sure they (although mainly the summer king) don’t deviate from their path. The Hunt know what has to happen to let the Wheel turn – and will ensure it does.

We wanted to use the online opportunity provided this year to make 5 or 6 short 1-2 minute performances which add to and help progress the overall story arc, which could be interspersed across the night. Also taking advantage of this digital format to make more visible the hunt element, and the search, by being able to record these performances in various places across the city – both in public places and quieter, darker corners. Our performances will include elements of character work, acrobatics, and fire spinning.

Featured image by Sean Bluestone for Beltane Fire Society. All rights reserved.