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The performance this year will be substantially different to last year. Now that the event is better known, and also since it is a Friday night, we are expecting a much bigger crowd so there is no way we will all fit into Hunter's Square again. Instead, there will be a double procession converging on Parliament Square.
The main procession begins downhill (exact location not confirmed). This is the court of the Goloshan, the summer king with his retinue of performers, animal headed mummers and musicians. They claim Parliament Square as their own, transforming the space into a scene of merriment and rejoicing - not unlike after the Beltane procession reaches the bower!
Meanwhile, up near the Castle, the Cailleach and her own entourage gathers. This is a more sinister mob, bringing with them the dark energy of winter. With them is the Holly Lord, the Cailleach's consort and the winter aspect of the Green Man.
When the procession arrives at Parliament Square, the Cailleach's cohots run riot and break up festivities. The Holly Lord confronts the Goloshan and the two do battle with swords. The Goloshan is slain and the Holly Lord proclaimed victor. He then realises what he has done and bids the Cailleach to restore the fallen Goloshan, otherwise the continuity of the seasons will be broken. Following the resurrection of the Goloshan, there is much frenzied drumming and screaming as the Cailleach begins her reign and finally reveals her true self.
In October 1996, a small group from within the Beltane Fire Society organised the first public Samhuinn Fire Festival. Despite a deliberate policy not to widely advertise, the event attracted over 1000 people by word of mouth. The event took place in the Royal Mile of Edinburgh and culminated with the lighting of a fire pillar in Hunter Square.
Research by Society members has uncovered a rich history of mediaeval processional plays in Edinburgh and elsewhere. These plays were performed down the Royal Mile and involved wooden tower structures, pyrotechnics, guisers, torch bearers, musicians, giant puppets and elaborate costuming. Performances, often mummer plays, were enacted on the towers. The plays were seasonal, based on ancient pre-Christian folk traditions although some had Christian interpretations. Processions were produced collaboratively by craftworkers' guilds and only died out at the insistence of the Reformation.
The processional performers included:
The procession moved down the Royal Mile on the traditional medieval procession route. Large-scale structures were pulled on wheeled wooden carts based on mediaeval travelling stages. The audience was encouraged to participate as masked and costumed guisers, joining the procession with turnip lanterns. En route stood three separate wooden podiums upon which performed jugglers, minstrels and jesters until the main processional performers arrived. The Oak and Holly Lords with the Cailleach in the role of Guid Doctor performed the ancient Goloshan play upon the podiums. The passage down the Royal Mile featured impressive pyrotechnics (fireworks were popular at mediaeval pagents).
The procession ended in a public space, where it was welcomed on to the site with a fire swinging performance to specially commissioned music. A ritual was enacted incorporating the structures carried on the wooden carts and involving all the processional performers. In the spirit of ancient Celtic Samhuinn festivities, the ritual culminated with a fiery finale to the event.