Wickerman burning goes online as Butser Ancient Farm celebrates Beltain virtually

People can still see the traditional burning of the famous 30ft wickerman as it is being broadcast on Butser Plus, the farm’s new virtual platform.

The Beltain Festival at Butser has been running for more than 30 years and typically attracts thousands to the site near Clanfield in the South Downs National Park.

It connects to ancient Celtic beliefs as one of the four major fire festivals at the turning points of the Celtic year. Beltain is celebrated on May 1 and is associated with the fertility of the land and the arrival of summer.

Although it hasn’t been possible to gather collectively at the farm this year, the Butser team wanted to mark the occasion and share the magnificent wickerman burn virtually instead.

Simon Jay, director at Butser said: ‘The Beltain Festival has been one of our biggest fundraising events in previous years attracting thousands of visitors from across the UK to see the annual burning of the wickerman and to experience the atmosphere at this unique place.

‘This year, sadly we are not able to hold our usual festival because of pandemic restrictions but we are delighted to be able to bring some of the essence of the festival to everyone through our new online platform Butser Plus.

‘Although we are sad not be able to see visitors in person, we hope that by taking the wickerman burning online this year, accompanied by Celtic storytelling from woodland bard Jonathon Huet, we will open this ancient tradition up to visitors across the UK and abroad who may not have experienced the unique magic of our Beltain Festival before.’

Butser Plus is a new online platform that allows users to enter an online world featuring professionally shot behind-the-scenes video content about life at the farm.

Supporters can sign up to access the exclusive content, and their donations will help to safeguard the farm’s future as it recovers from the impact of Covid and the subsequent loss of visitors.

Those who want to experience the magic of the festival can log on from today to hear the story of Beltain culminating in the burning of the wickerman.

Go to butserplus.com.