Beltane

[Earl]

Does anyone here celebrate Beltane?

It's a traditional Gaelic festival to celebrate the beginning of summer which is held on the 1st May.

[timey]

Yes, I usually give a nod to it when it comes around. It celebrates the start of the Celtic summer period, which ends with Samhain (Halloween) in October. When we were in Ireland a couple of years back, there were Beltaine festivals on the Dingle, a very traditional Celtic area of Ireland.

It is mentioned in Doctor Who of course, in the The Daemons with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Roger Delgado as the Master. A few years back we visited the village where the programme was filmed.

[Earl]

Do they have bonfires?

[timey]

Yep.

[Earl]

Is it tonight or tomorrow then?

[timey]

Tonight. The calendar date is always given as 1st May, but the Celtic day began at sunset, so tonight counts as 1st May by that reckoning. it's the same at Samhain (pronounced "Sowan"), which is actually 1st November, but is celebrated on the evening of 31st October.

[Earl]

That's what I thought, it said 1st May and then seemed to contradict itself by saying sunset 30th April.

[Major Starbold]

Sounds like a gas which comes from your tallywhacker.