Samhain Festival

Just a reminder: in two days I will be hitchhiking to Amsterdam to raise funds for the Edinburgh Student Charity Appeal and associated charities! If you haven't already, you can donate to me via Virgin Money-giving here. I am so eternally grateful to you for helping me help these charities!

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Most people know that October 31 is Halloween, but it's less commonly known that October 31 is also the Mexican Day of the Dead, the neo-Pagan Samhain, the Catholic All Hallow's Eve, and lots of other festivals. There's a common theme running through these festivals: they've got lots to do with dead people.

It's a traditional belief in many places that the time around October 31 is the time when the veil between this world and the next is the thinnest. During these times communication with the dead is easiest, so it can be a good time for divination or seances. You guys already know what my thoughts are about ghosts - and Edinburgh is supposedly the most haunted city in all of Europe, so hey!

Here in Edinburgh, the Samhain festival is an annual event that celebrates the modern continuation of an ancient Pagan tradition: Samhain (also spelt Samhuinn), a harvest festival that marks the end of summer and the coming of the cold winter months.

I know it looks a lot like him, but I promise you that's not Darth Maul holding the flaming torch.

Costumed performers in every colour of face paint and technicolour costumes.



In the picture above, this woman is cleansing or clearing the space with branches for the people to walk on - in the neo-Pagan tradition, this removes negative energy from the space and readies it for magickal work.



As you can see, the crowds turned up by the thousands to see the parade! Everyone was out in their Halloween costumes, so vampires and werewolves and Mary Poppins and hell-devils were out in throngs to see the Samhain parade.

It was so squished though - I could barely move, everyone was trying to get to the front to get a good look! To be honest, most of my pictures of the evening were of the top of people's heads than anything else... So these are the good ones which I'm putting out for you guys to see ha ha ha!

Friendly performers posing for photos afterwards!

What do you think? Does Edinburgh live up to its reputation as a festival city?

Samhain 2012 was organised by the Beltane Fire Society, which aims to sustain Celtic traditions and integrate them with the art of street performance; apart from the Samhain festival, it also organises the Beltane festival which is held on Calton Hill in May every year. To get involved with the Beltane Fire Society, email volunteers@beltane.org at any time.