Beltane, also spelled Bealtaine, is a Gaelic festival that marks the start of summer. It is celebrated on May 1st or around the middle of the time between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. People in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man used to observe this festival widely. In Ireland, it is called Lá Bealtaine in both Irish and English. In Scottish Gaelic, it is known as Là Bealltainn, and in Manx Gaelic, it is called Boaltinn or Boaldyn. Beltane is one of four main Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasadh. It is similar to the Welsh festival called Calan Mai.
Beltane is mentioned in early Irish writings and is linked to important stories in Irish mythology. It was also called Cétshamhain, which may mean "first of summer." During this time, people would move their cattle to summer pastures. Rituals were held to protect animals, crops, and people, and to encourage growth. Bonfires were lit, and their flames, smoke, and ashes were believed to offer protection. People and their cattle would walk around or between bonfires, and sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires were extinguished and then relit using flames from the Beltane bonfire.
Celebrations included feasts, and some food and drink were given to the aos sí, or "fairy folk." Doors, windows, and homes were decorated with yellow May flowers, possibly because they reminded people of fire. In some parts of Ireland, people created a May Bush, which was a thorn bush or branch decorated with flowers, ribbons, shiny shells, and rushlights. Holy wells were also visited, and Beltane dew was believed to bring beauty and youth. These traditions were similar to May Day or Midsummer festivals in parts of Great Britain and Europe, such as German celebrations of Walpurgis Night.
By the 20th century, public Beltane celebrations became less common. However, some traditions have been revived as local cultural events. Since the late 20th century, some modern groups, including Celtic neopagans and Wiccans, have celebrated a festival inspired by Beltane as a religious holiday. In the Southern Hemisphere, some people may observe the festival on November 1st.
Name
In Old Irish, the festival was often called Beltaine or Belltaine. In modern Irish, it is usually called Lá Bealtaine, which means "day of Beltane," and the month of May is called Mí Bhealtaine, meaning "month of Beltane." In Scottish Gaelic, the festival is known as Latha Bealltainn. Sometimes, an older spelling, Bealltuinn, is used. The term Latha Buidhe Bealltainn (Scottish) or Lá Buidhe Bealtaine (Irish) means "the bright or yellow day of Beltane," which refers to the first day of May. In Ireland, it is sometimes called Luan Lae Bealtaine, which adds "Monday" (Luan) to emphasize that it is the first day of summer.
The name Beltaine is often written in English as Beltane, Beltain, Beltaine, Beltine, or Beltany.
Another Old Irish name for the festival was Cétshamain or Cétamain, likely meaning "first of summer." In modern Irish, this name is sometimes written as Céadamhain or Céadamh. This name appears in the Scottish Gaelic name for the month of May, An Cèitean, and matches the Welsh word Cyntefin. These names come from an ancient Celtic language root, *kentu-samonyos, meaning "first + summer."
Two theories explain the origin of the name Beltaine. One suggests it comes from beltiniā, linked to a word beltu, which may mean "death," based on older languages. This theory connects Beltaine to the Lithuanian goddess of death, Giltinė. However, this idea is debated because it is unlikely that a festival marking the start of summer would focus on death. Another theory says Beltaine comes from the ancient root *bʰel- ("shine") and the Irish word tene ("fire"). Some scholars believe the word "Bel" in "Bel's fire" might refer to the Celtic god Belenos, though Bel is not mentioned elsewhere in early Irish texts.
There are places in Ireland named with the word Bealtaine, showing where Beltane celebrations once happened. These names are often written in English as Beltany. For example, there are three Beltanys in County Donegal, including the Beltany stone circle, and two in County Tyrone. In County Armagh, there is a place called Tamnaghvelton or Tamhnach Bhealtaine, meaning "the Beltane field." In County Tipperary, Lisbalting or Lios Bealtaine means "the Beltane ringfort." In County Limerick, a stream called Glasheennabaultina or Glaisín na Bealtaine means "the Beltane stream," where it joins the River Galey.
Origins
Beltane is thought to have started as a festival connected to herders who practiced transhumance. This means herders, sometimes with their families, moved their cows and sheep to higher pastures during the summer. This tradition was common in Ireland, where it was called "booleying," as well as in Britain and other parts of Europe.
The ancient Roman festival of Parilia or Palilia shared many similarities with Beltane. This festival took place around April 21st, before shepherds led their flocks to summer pastures. During this time, shepherds performed cleansing and protective ceremonies. They decorated enclosures for sheep with greenery, lit bonfires, jumped over hot coals, drank a special drink they had made, and offered gifts to the Roman god Pales. These traditions, along with similar May Day customs in other parts of Europe, suggest that these festivals may have shared a common origin in the distant past.
Historical customs
Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (1 November), Imbolc (1 February), Beltane (1 May), and Lughnasadh (1 August). Beltane marked the start of the pastoral summer season, when farmers led their livestock to summer pastures. People held rituals at this time to protect their animals, crops, dairy products, and themselves from harm, both natural and supernatural. These rituals often involved fire. People also performed ceremonies to encourage growth and to honor the aos sí, which were believed to be spirits or fairies. Many scholars think the aos sí were once pagan gods and nature spirits. Beltane was a spring festival that celebrated new life and fertility, possibly linked to the growing power of the sun.
The earliest written mention of Beltane comes from Old Irish literature in Gaelic Ireland. A 10th-century text called Sanas Cormaic (Cormac's Glossary) explains that the name "Beltaine" means "lucky fire." It describes how druids lit two fires with special prayers and drove cattle between them to protect them from disease. Another entry in Sanas Cormaic says that "Beltaine" means "fire of Bel," referring to a god named Bel or Bil. Some scholars believe this may have been the Celtic healing god Belenos, though there is no other mention of Bel in Old Irish writings. Others think the writer may have connected the druidic fires to the Biblical god Baal.
A medieval story called Tochmarc Emire (The Wooing of Emer) describes the same practice: druids lighting two fires and driving cattle between them to protect them from illness. The story says Beltane marks the start of summer and that it and Samhain (the start of winter) were the two main times that divided the year. Legal texts from the 7th–8th century mention that people moved their cattle from their homes to summer pastures around May Day (Beltane) and returned them around November Day (Samhain).
In the 17th century, historian Geoffrey Keating wrote about a large gathering at the hill of Uisneach in medieval Ireland during Beltane, where people made a sacrifice to a god named Beil. He said that two bonfires were lit in every district, and cattle were driven between them to protect them from disease. While there is no record of such a gathering in historical annals, older stories mention a hero lighting a holy fire on Uisneach that burned for seven years. Some scholars think this may be a memory of Beltane rituals, though others suggest Keating may have mixed up this legend with information from Sanas Cormaic. Excavations at Uisneach in the 20th century found evidence of large fires and charred bones, showing it was a place of ritual activity for many years.
Beltane is also mentioned in Scottish literature. An early reference appears in a poem called Peblis to the Play, found in the Maitland Manuscripts, which describes Beltane celebrations in the town of Peebles.
From the late 18th century to the mid-20th century, many writers and folklorists recorded Beltane customs. For example, John Jamieson, in his Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808), described some Beltane traditions that were still practiced in parts of Scotland in the 18th and early 19th centuries, though they were beginning to fade.
Bonfires remained a key part of Beltane celebrations in the modern era. Before lighting a bonfire, people would put out all other fires, usually on a hill. In Britain, people often lit bonfires using a need-fire, or tein' èiginn in Gaelic, created by rubbing wood together. This was a sacred fire that could only be made by a group of people (usually nine men) after removing all metal and dousing other fires nearby. Nineteenth-century writers recorded such fires being lit in parts of Scotland and Wales. People believed the flames protected them from illness, supernatural harm, and witchcraft.
In the 19th century, people still drove cattle over flames or between two fires, as described in Sanas Cormaic almost 1,000 years earlier, in parts of Ireland and Scotland. Sometimes, cattle were made to jump over flames or embers, and people did the same for good luck and protection. On the Isle of Man, people ensured the smoke from the fire blew over them and their animals.
After the bonfire burned out, people covered themselves with its ashes and sprinkled it on their crops and livestock. Burning torches from the fire were taken home, carried around the house or farm, and used to relight the hearth. These rituals show that fire was believed to have protective powers. Similar customs were part of May Day or Midsummer festivals in other parts of the British Isles and mainland Europe. Some scholars, like Frazer, thought fire rituals were a type of magic meant to copy the sun's power and ensure enough sunlight for people, animals, and plants. They also believed the fire could destroy harmful influences.
Food was also cooked at the bonfire, and rituals involved eating it. In the Scottish Highlands, Alexander Carmichael wrote about a feast with lamb, which was once sacrificed. In 1769, Thomas Pennant described Beltane bonfires in Perthshire, where people made a dish called caudle from eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk. Some of the mixture was poured on the ground as an offering. Everyone then took a piece of a special oatmeal cake called a bannoch Bealltainn or "Beltane bannock," which had nine knobs. Each person would face the fire, break off a knob, and throw it over their shoulder, offering it to spirits to protect their livestock and animals that might harm them. Afterward, they drank the caudle.
In the 18th century, writers like John Ramsay of Ochtertyre and John Sinclair described another Beltane ritual involving the bannock. A slice of the cake was marked with charcoal, placed in a bonnet, and everyone took one out while blindfolded. Whoever got the marked piece had to leap through the flames three times. People pretended to throw them into the fire, and for a while, they were called "carline" (a witch or hag). This may have been a memory of real sacrifices or always symbolic. A similar tradition existed in parts of Wales during May Day, and mock-burnings were part of spring and summer festivals in other parts of Europe.
Yellow and white flowers, such as primrose, rowan, hawthorn, gorse, hazel, and marsh marigold, were traditionally placed at doorways and windows. This practice was recorded in the 19th century.
Revival
Beltane was no longer celebrated as a festival by the mid-20th century, though some traditions remained. In Ireland, Beltane fires were common until the mid-20th century and are now part of an annual festival in County Westmeath on the Hill of Uisneach since 2009. This festival includes a torchlight parade with people in costumes, some on horseback, and the lighting of a large bonfire at dusk. In 2017, the ceremonial fire was lit by Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland.
Today, some communities in the Gaelic diaspora light a shared Beltane fire, from which homes then light their own fires. This is often a cultural revival rather than a direct continuation of ancient traditions. In Newfoundland, the custom of decorating the May Bush still exists. In Peebles, Scotland, a Beltane Fair is held every June, where a local girl is crowned Beltane Queen at the parish church. The fair includes a Common Riding event, a traditional feature of Borders festivals.
Since 1988, the Beltane Fire Festival has been held on Calton Hill in Edinburgh on the night of April 30. Inspired by traditional Beltane, the event includes fire dances, costumed performers, and a procession led by the May Queen and the Green Man. It ends with the lighting of a bonfire.
Butser Ancient Farm in England has held a Beltane festival since the 1980s. The event combines historical reenactments, folk traditions, and performances, including a May Queen and Green Man. It ends with the burning of a wickerman, a structure with a new design each year. The farm states that its celebrations are not meant to recreate ancient pagan practices.
The 1970 song "Ride a White Swan" by Marc Bolan and T.Rex includes the line "Ride a white Swan like the people of the Beltane."
Some Neopagans celebrate Beltane. These groups have different traditions, even though they share the same name. Some try to follow historical practices, while others mix ideas from various cultures. Neopagans often celebrate Beltane on April 30–May 1 in the Northern Hemisphere and October 31–November 1 in the Southern Hemisphere. Some choose the midpoint between the spring equinox and summer solstice as the festival date.
Celtic Reconstructionists aim to revive ancient Celtic religious practices. They base their traditions on research and historical records, adapting them for modern life. They avoid mixing practices from unrelated cultures. They often celebrate Beltane when hawthorn trees bloom. Some light bonfires, pass between them with family or animals, or bring home candles lit from the fire. Others use candles if bonfires are not possible. They may decorate homes with a May Bush, rowan crosses, or visit holy wells to leave offerings.
Wiccans use the name Beltane or Beltain for their May Day celebrations. It is one of their eight yearly Sabbats, following Ostara and before Midsummer. Wicca combines practices from many cultures. Their Beltane rituals often resemble Germanic or English May Day festivals, focusing on fertility and including maypole dances. Some Wiccans perform a ritual union of the May Lord and May Lady.