Edinburgh’s Calton Hill will be ablaze with fire, drums and otherworldly performance as Samhuinn Fire Festival dramatically marks the death of summer and arrival of the winter season.
Hundreds of performers will transform one of Edinburgh’s most iconic landmarks for a spectacular celebration of Scotland’s Celtic heritage, bringing together fire-play, drumming, acrobatics, dance, immersive performance and elaborate costumes on Halloween night (October 31).
At the heart of this year’s festival stands the Cailleach, the ancient Crone and Goddess of Winter, who reminds us that winter is not simply an ending, but a necessary part of the cycle of life, death and renewal. Beneath her frozen cloak, the earth rests and gathers its strength, ready for life to begin again.
This Samhuinn, the Cailleach invites audiences to reconsider our relationship with darkness and the things we must eventually let go. Drawing on wisdom carried through generations of crones, she asks us to recognise the value of rest and sacrifice, and to find the courage not to fight the darkness, but to walk alongside it with wisdom and compassion.
Beside her, the Summer King and Winter Queen bring this ancient story into the contemporary world. A tired Summer King explores our culture of consumption and the consequences of continually demanding more, while the Winter Queen confronts personal and collective grief, learning that some things cannot be defeated, but can be carried together.
Their stories return us to the wisdom of the Cailleach: endings are part of living, rest is necessary, and Winter is not the end of life, but one of the ways life survives.
This Samhuinn, audiences are invited to gather around the fire, step beneath the Cailleach’s cloak and join the turning of the Wheel, welcoming winter with one of Edinburgh’s most spectacular nights of fire, mythology and performance.
Starting in 2018, Samhuinn Fire Festival originally took place on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, but the festival was also held on Calton Hill where it returns in 2026.
Tickets are now available here.