Bealtaine (anglicised as 'Beltane') (/ˈbɛl.teɪn/; Irish pronunciation: [ˈbʲal̪ˠt̪ˠəʲnə], approximately /ˈb(j)ɒltɪnə/ B(Y)OL-tin-ə)[5][6] is the Gaelic May Day festival, marking the beginning of summer.

Public celebrations of Beltane fell out of popularity by the 20th century, though some customs continue to be revived as local cultural events.

Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed a festival based on Beltane as a religious holiday.

The absence of syncope (Irish sound laws rather predict a **Beltne form) can be explained by the popular belief that Beltaine was a compound of the word for 'fire', tene.

[17] Beltane was a "spring time festival of optimism" during which "fertility ritual again was important, perhaps connecting with the waxing power of the sun".

According to the early medieval texts Sanas Cormaic written by Cormac mac Cuilennáin and Tochmarc Emire, Belltaine 'May-day' i.e. bil-tene i.e. lucky fire was held on 1 May and marked the beginning of summer.

[22] According to 17th-century historian Geoffrey Keating, there was a great gathering at the hill of Uisneach each Beltane in medieval Ireland, where a sacrifice was made to a god named Beil.

[23] There is no reference to such a gathering in the annals, but the medieval Dindsenchas (lore of places) includes a tale of a hero lighting a holy fire on Uisneach that blazed for seven years.

Ronald Hutton writes that this may "preserve a tradition of Beltane ceremonies there", but adds "Keating or his source may simply have conflated this legend with the information in Sanas Chormaic to produce a piece of pseudo-history".

[15] Nevertheless, excavations at Uisneach in the 20th century found evidence of large fires and charred bones, and showed it to have been a place of ritual since ancient times.

[15][24][25] Evidence suggests it was "a sanctuary-site, in which fire was kept burning perpetually, or kindled at frequent intervals", where animal sacrifices were offered.

[27] An early reference is found in the poem 'Peblis to the Play', contained in the Maitland Manuscripts of 15th- and 16th-century Scots poetry, which describes the celebration in the town of Peebles.

For example John Jamieson, in his Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808), describes some of the Beltane customs which persisted in the 18th and early 19th centuries in parts of Scotland, which he noted were beginning to die out.

[3][30] Ronald Hutton writes that "To increase the potency of the holy flames, in Britain at least they were often kindled by the most primitive of all means, of friction between wood.

He suggests they were meant to mimic the Sun and "ensure a needful supply of sunshine for men, animals, and plants", as well as to symbolically "burn up and destroy all harmful influences".

[34] In 1769, Thomas Pennant wrote of Beltane bonfires in Perthshire, where a caudle made from eggs, butter, oatmeal and milk was cooked.

[35] Yellow and white flowers such as primrose, rowan, hawthorn, gorse, hazel, and marsh marigold were traditionally placed at doorways and windows; this is documented in 19th century Ireland, Scotland and Mann.

[37] This was a small tree or branch—typically hawthorn, rowan, holly or sycamore—decorated with bright flowers, ribbons, painted shells or eggshells from Easter Sunday, and so forth.

"[41] Emyr Estyn Evans suggests that the May Bush custom may have come to Ireland from England, because it seemed to be found in areas with strong English influence and because the Irish saw it as unlucky to damage certain thorn trees.

[43] The practice of bedecking a May Bush with flowers, ribbons, garlands and bright shells is found among the Gaelic diaspora, most notably in Newfoundland, and in some Easter traditions on the East Coast of the United States.

[30] Many Beltane practices were designed to ward off or appease the aos sí (often referred to as the fairies) and prevent them from stealing dairy products, which were thought to be especially at risk.

They would "carry with them seeds of grain, implements of husbandry, the first well water, and the herb vervain (or rowan as a substitute).

The procession generally stopped at the four cardinal points of the compass, beginning in the east, and rituals were performed in each of the four directions".

[51][52] In the 19th century, folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912), collected the Scottish Gaelic song Am Beannachadh Bealltain ("The Beltane Blessing") in his Carmina Gadelica, which he heard from a crofter in South Uist.

The dew was thought to increase sexual attractiveness, maintain youthfulness, protect from sun damage (particularly freckles and sunburn) and help with skin ailments for the ensuing year.

In Ireland, Beltane fires were common until the mid-20th century,[30] and has been revived as an annual festival in County Westmeath on the Hill of Uisneach since 2009.

[28][66] Since 1988, a Beltane Fire Festival has been held every year on the night of 30 April on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland.

[68] Butser Ancient Farm, an open-air archaeology museum in Hampshire, England, has also held a Beltane festival since the 1980s.

[74][75][76][77][78] Some Neopagans celebrate it at the astronomical midpoint between the spring equinox and summer solstice (or the full moon nearest this point).

In general, the Wiccan Beltane is more akin to the Germanic/English May Day festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as maypole dancing).