New Town

Beltane Fire Festival

The Beltane Fire Festival (http://www.beltane.org/) takes place every 30th April on Calton Hill. The festival has it's origins in the pre-christian Celtic festival of the same name, which was held to herald the coming of spring and to celebrate the fertility of the countryside. Drums, dancing, semi-nudity, pagan ritual, home-brew and lots of fire and fireworks. Crowds of around 12,000 enjoy the ceremony and spectacle every year. For the full traditional experience stay awake until dawn and head across to Arthurs Seat to wash your face in the dew.

Calton Hill

Climb Calton Hill in the morning or early evening hours to experience a great sunrise/sunset over Edinburgh. However, try to avoid hours of complete darkness. The hill is home to various monuments including Edinburgh's Folly, an unfinished replica of Athens' Parthenon, built as a memorial to the Napoleonic Wars, and Nelson's Tower, built in the shape of an upturned telescope in honour of the naval hero. The latter features a Time Ball at the top, which drops at 1PM every day to enable ships at Leith docks to set their clocks. The time ball was originally operated by the City Observatory, which was located here until it was replaced by the larger Royal Observatory of Edinburgh in the south of the City, in the late 19th Century when light pollution in the City centre became too much of an obstacle to celestial viewing. The City observatory is open to the public on occasional Fridays, usually to conincide with important astronomical events.

Walk through Princes Street Gardens, a small, beautiful park that lies in the small valley between Castle Hill and Princes Street and forms the boundary between the Old and New Towns.