Seeing out the winter in blaze of pagan glory

ON a typical working day Dr Jane Stolton arrives at Eastfield Medical Practice in Penicuik, at around 8.15am. She treats around ten patients during her morning surgery, then catches up with the paperwork before the afternoon influx which keeps her busy until around 5.30pm.

Today, however, she has the day off and she'll be spending it at home in The Inch, preparing to embody a White Warrior Woman in tonight's Beltane Festival.

Clad in white, with black eyes, Celtic symbols on her forehead and red lips, tonight Jane will bring to life the role of one of the May Queen's four handmaidens.

She is one of 12,000 people expected to gather on Calton Hill for the annual festival, now in its 20th year, which welcomes in the summer, according to ancient pre-Christian traditions. Starting at 9pm, the festival sees semi-clad dancers with burning torches take to the hill and hold an elaborate procession led by the May Queen and the Green Man lasting nearly three hours.

Just a few years ago it looked as though the fire festival would die out - there were complaints from residents about drumming going on late and the event was actually cancelled in 2003 after soaring costs and the council's insistence it needed a public entertainment licence to go ahead.

Instead, the festival managed to change and adapt, limiting numbers to 12,000, down from a peak of 15,000. Organisers began leasing Calton Hill for the night when the event returned on a formal footing for the first time in 2004 and introduced charging for tickets - now costing £5 or £7 - to cover costs.

It was all a bit of a mainstream move for a festival traditionally seen as spontaneous and free-spirited. But Alana Storey, spokeswoman for the Beltane Fire Society, says the tighter controls haven't inhibited the atmosphere.

She says: "People talk about it becoming less wild and maybe it's more controlled for the crowds. But at heart it's still the same wild, free event that doesn't exist anywhere else in Edinburgh."

And residents don't appear to object to its continuance. Robin Wight, treasurer of Regent Royal Carlton Terraces Association, says he hasn't heard any complaints in recent years.

He says: "I live about 300 yards away and it doesn't cause me any harm. I've never been to it but I've not heard of anyone being disturbed by it."

The festival begins with a performer who is taking the role of the Horned God, a winter deity - his summer aspect is known as the Green Man - inviting the Neid Fire to be lit on top of the Acropolis on Calton Hill.

This fire is lit and is used to light the torches of the Torch Bearers. The May Queen makes her appearance, the drummers strike up and the performance moves off anti-clockwise around the hill, passing under a fire arch symbolising the entrance into the magical underworld.

For some the festival is just a chance for late-night al fresco boozing and watching some pretty lights. But for many, these pagan rituals hold great significance. For Jane, in her second year as a performer, this Beltane is particularly important as after the performance she is set to wed Ian Brown, 23, in a pagan ceremony.

She grins: "We are getting handfasted in a pagan marriage afterwards. It means a lot to me. The May Queen and the Green Man will tie our hands together and then we jump over the Blue Men's withies, or big sticks. We will be married for a year and a day." The young doctor is the first to admit that she's not a stereotypical GP, with her pierced tongue and ever-changing hair colour - it was dyed pink after last year's festival. Her other great passion is drama - she runs her own production company, Purple Productions, and has appeared twice at the Edinburgh Fringe.

"The other doctors think it's wonderful though some of them probably think I'm crazy," she laughs. "Preparing for the festival has taken over my life. We've been rehearsing twice a week since the end of February, including a weekend away camping."

Like the other White Warrior Women, Jane has had to sew 100 cloth flowers on to her white tunic, hunt for sticks and learn elaborate stick throws.

Perhaps surprisingly, five of the White Warrior Women are played by men. Duncan MacGregor, a scientist at Edinburgh University medical school, is one of them. He says he has no shame about transforming into a woman for the event.

"I was a Red Man for five years so I thought it would be nice to see how it was on the other side. We wear a skirt and womanly clothes but no fake breasts. It's feminine but not drag," he laughs.

This will be the Marchmont-based 31-year-old's tenth year performance at Beltane, where he started as a banner bearer.

"It's so unique. It's a ritual but also a performance. I see it as an art, conveying something that has an emotional sense for people as well as marking the start of summer."

He confesses he has been able to think of little else but Beltane recently.

"In the last few weeks it takes over your life. We do several training sessions a week. We have a lot of formal moves and fling our sticks around with our arms and do defensive moves to protect the May Queen."

Most of the 380 performers and crew end up at a club night at Studio 24 on Calton Road, after which the night owls usually walk up one of Edinburgh's hills to watch the dawn. "It's the people who make Beltane special," says Duncan. "I've met some of my best friends through it."

The May Queen leads her procession to four points around Calton Hill - Air, Earth, Water and Fire - where she awakens its inhabitants, who dance for her and the Green Man.

When the procession's circuit of the hill is almost complete, the court is ambushed by the Red Men and their Beastie Drummers, spirits from the underworld symbolising lust, chaos and mischief. A stand-off ensues between the White Warrior Women and the lewd Red Men.

Ultimately, the White Warriors win the confrontation, allowing the procession to move off toward the centre of the hill, where the Horned God - the Green Man - is ritually killed by the May Queen's handmaidens for the crime of reaching out to touch her.

He is stripped of his winter ivy garments and resurrected by the May Queen as the Green Man. Then, after a wild and energetic dance, he is crowned by the May Queen and united as her consort. Summer can officially begin.

Alex Highet, 24, a mental health support worker and complementary therapist from Marchmont, can't wait to paint himself red and dance energetically in just a red thong.

He says: "Red Men are just born on Beltane night after being underground for six months.

"When we see something we absolutely desire we have a carnal passion for it and the Green Man is inspired by us. We are the spark that gives him the push to touch the May Queen. The Horned King has forgotten what fun is and then he dies and is reborn as the Green Man."

HEAD FOR THE HILL IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT

THE Beltane Fire Festival began in the Capital in 1988 and is produced entirely by volunteers.

Tonight's event, which costs £40,000 to stage, is expected to attract around 12,000 revellers to witness the revival of the ancient Celtic fertility festival. Performers will move between different points on Calton Hill and spectators can choose to follow the procession or pick a vantage point to see some performances close up.

Tickets are on sale from the box office at The Hub but there will also be a limited number to buy at the gate. Anyone still wanting a ticket is advised to go along several hours in advance of the starting time of 9pm.

A total of seven fire sculptures will be set alight tonight, compared to three at last year's festival.