The dark winter days go out in a blaze of glory

MORE than 12,000 people enjoyed a feast of colour and fire at the Beltane Festival on Calton Hill.

The event, which celebrates the start of spring, saw 300 performers lead a fire-lit procession around the hill last night. However, hundreds of people were left disappointed when tickets for the annual event sold out shortly after it was due to start at 9pm.

Stewards had to turn people away from the main entrance on Waterloo Place and organisers today said they would look into the possibility of increasing the capacity in the wake of this year's success.

The performance moved around the hill from the Acropolis, through the fire gate and round a series of points representing earth, air, water and fire.

Beltane is Europe's biggest fire festival and this year's attendance was up by nearly 4000 on the 2005 crowd.

Revellers were treated to an array of drumming, fire performance and colourful costumes during the ancient ceremony.

Peter Renwick, Beltane's producer, said: "We never expected it to sell out at all so we are just thrilled.

"It always a worry for us because it costs so much to put all this together so to sell out is a fantastic achievement.

"We are just sorry for the people who didn't get in but this is something we could possibly look at for next year. It was pretty crowded up there but maybe we could squeeze in another 1000 or so, it is something we would need to talk to the council and police about.

"I think Beltane is becoming a more recognised event now and this is paying dividends for us."

He added: "So many people put a lot of work into this and I'm glad it worked so well."

Many Beltane followers spent the night on Calton Hill after the event, which was first staged in 1988, to witness the first dawn of spring according to the ancient Celtic calendar.

The procession began at the Acropolis at 10pm where a fire was lit. Torchbearers then guided the May Queen anti-clockwise around a packed Calton Hill.

Guiding the group were druid spirit guides known as the Blue Men and White Warrior Women, who often doubled as stewards, waving the over-eager crowd back with birch sticks.

When the procession reached the main stage it was ambushed by the Red Men and their Beastie Drummers - spirits from the underworld symbolising chaos, mischief and lust.

The May Queen's White Warrior Women - who represent truth, law and order - fought them off and the procession climaxed with the emergence of the Green Man, who represents the first new growth of the coming summer.

Even a downpour towards the end of the event failed to dampen the spirits of the eager crowd, which stayed on for a finale that saw a giant bonfire lit and the creation of a human pyramid.

Police made one arrest but otherwise the event passed off peacefully.

The 2003 Beltane had to be cancelled after council officials insisted the organisers needed a public entertainment licence.

The festival returned the following year but was made all-ticket and the society agreed to impose a strict curfew of 1am.

Ticketing also has to help pay for the estimated 40,000 cost of staging the event.

Last year a controversial booze ban at the festival was scrapped at the eleventh hour. Just weeks before it was due to take place, city chiefs gave the go-ahead for alcohol to be drunk at the event, as long as organisers enforced restrictions on revellers taking glass bottles to the Calton Hill beauty spot.

The move came after legal threats by the Beltane Fire Society forced the authority into a last-minute climbdown.