Beltane is an ancient Gaelic and Celtic festival, celebrated around May 1st, marking the beginning of summer with themes of fire, fertility, and renewal, traditionally involving large bonfires for purification and protection of people and livestock, alongside feasting, dancing, and rituals connecting to nature's blossoming life and the thin veil between worlds. Modern celebrations, often called May Day, continue these traditions, focusing on vitality and community. 

One of the four quarter day festivals, Beltane falls exactly between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. This event calls members of communities to let the winter fires die, and gather to celebrate the return of the summer. The observance of this hugely important time in the turning of the wheel of the year was characterized by a celebration of the return of the fertility of the land, and would have been a time when livestock would have been put out to pasture and courting rituals commence.