Beltane Festival, Edinburgh

Tonight saw us heading through to Edinburgh to see the spectacular Beltane Festival which is held on Calton Hill in Edinburgh.

Normally the locus for seedy encounters in Inspector Rebus novels, tonight the crowds gathered on the Hill to witness the Beltane Fire Society enact various Pagan Rituals which marked the transition from Spring to Summer. So on a beautiful spring evening we donned our T shirts and shorts freezing cold May evening we donned our warm jackets and scarves to watch the festivities.

It was a great evening except for the incredible rudeness of some people who thought it was okay to break the line of spectators and stand infront of LeeAnne and People Twitcher, despite the fact that we picked our spot well in advance and stood very patiently for an hour to watch the procession. At one point I was convinced that that one couple were going to be the not so proud owners of PTs new Nikon which I had visions of being .... never mind you get the picture! She showed incredible restraint and decorum under very trying circumstances!

That aside it was a lovely evening and a great location for photographs albeit the crowds did make it very difficult to get anything really decent.

I am not entirely sure what this photograph shows except there was a heck of a lot of red body paint used to create a very dramatic effect. What I can't show you is the drum music which accompanied this part of the procession. It sounded very authentic and atmospheric.