Beltane 2025
What is a Stone Circle Council Beltane?
Beltane celebrates the height of Spring and opens the way into Summer. Our Beltane festival includes fire circles, ribbons, flowers, maypoles, dancing, communal activities, and rituals spread out over a 3-day weekend near May 1st each year.
In 2025 we are returning to the StoneSong Center in Flintstone, Maryland to celebrate with our first Trilithon and the Fairy Cairn. We'll gather Friday evening, April 25th, through Sunday afternoon, April 27th.
For this fire Sabbat, our working holds the imagery of the Seed at its center, in both literal and metaphorical forms. For who can see the seed and, not guessing, but know for certain, the shape of the tree to come? A seed is potential, a beginning, a promise of a future. You ... are a Seed.
___
Event Fee (does not include Lodging):
- Adults: $40
- Youth 17 and under: Free!
Includes all activities and the Saturday evening Beltane Feast! Lodging (camping or indoors) is selected and charged separately.
Lodging:
Camping-
- Adults: $80 ($40 Event Fee + $40 Stone Song camping fee)
- Youth 17 and Under: Free, UNLESS staying in a personal, upgraded lodging choice such as the Barn, Farmhouse, etc.
Indoors-
- A limited number of indoor accommodations are available for an additional fee; fee varies depending on the indoor option chosen.
Day pass: $60 ($40 Event Fee + $20 Stone Song grounds fee)
- Includes all activities, including the Saturday evening Beltane Feast, for those who wish to attend during the day but sleep off-site.
Virtual attendance is free! Completing a virtual registration will allow you to get emails with links, schedule, and other information ahead of the event.
We believe that cost should not be a barrier to joining in community. Partial or full financial scholarships are available via our Sunshine Fund (see link for details).
To use Sunshine Funds, when registering choose "Invoice me" on the payment page, and e-mail admin@stonecirclecouncil.org to apply for funds.
*All registration fees are discounted $5 for Council members. Membership information can be found on our Membership Page. Not sure if you're a Council Member or if your membership is up to date? Check your status by logging in here.
___
Meals:
The Beltane feast on Saturday night is included for all in-person attendees. Stone Circle Council is proud to announce that we will be organizing the Meal Plan ourselves, thanks to the generosity of the Gilles, Kate & James. A limited number (50) of meal plans are available, for an additional fee, to cover remaining meals for the weekend. Deadline for meal plan registration is Friday April 18th. Click here to register for the Beltane 2025 Meal Plan, a cost of $38 for dinner on Friday, and breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.
___
Event Schedule:
Friday
- Welcomes with old friends and new
- Settling in to accommodations or camp site
- Dinner (SCC Meal Plan or on your own)
- Opening Ritual & Consecration of the Maypole
Saturday
- Breakfast (SCC Meal Plan or on your own)
- SCC Spring Town Hall Meeting
- Communal Creation of the Maypole Wreath and Ribbons
- Preparation of the Maypole
- Crafting Workshops - including a special activity for children
- Maypole Dance; followed by a Handfasting
- Beltane Feast (free to all!)
- Main Ritual
- Fire Circle, Drumming, Dancing, & Bardic Offerings
Sunday
- Breakfast (SCC Meal Plan or on your own)
- Painting & Planting Seed Stones, and Closing Ritual
*Virtual offerings for the weekend will include streams of the on-site events as signal strength allows. Otherwise, events may be recorded and posted later to our video archive.*
___
COVID-19 and our Community Health Policy:
We require all attendees to adhere to SCC's health policy, which is outlined on our Community Health Policy page.
___
About the Venue:
Stone Song Center is a welcoming space nestled in the Allegany Mountains of Western Maryland. It includes a beautiful farmhouse overlooking 23 acres of luscious land and a renovated barn that serves as a retreat center. The barn has electricity, running water, and bathrooms with hot showers and flush toilets. The land includes a small pond and creek, a fire circle, nature trails, an apiary and an organic vegetable garden and orchard.
Camping at Stone Song is find-your-own space, with some meadow and some tree-based spaces. Bring your own camping equipment and towels; shared bathrooms are located in the barn with hot showers and flush toilets. Non-campers can upgrade to bunkhouse or farmhouse accommodations. A Day Pass option is available for those who want to attend during the day but sleep elsewhere.
Accommodations in the bunkhouse are dormitory-style, with single and double beds in a shared space and with shared bathrooms. Linens are provided. The farmhouse has two rooming options. Both provide linens and towels, and both have shared bathrooms. The Clover room and loft offer seven beds in shared spaces. The Beebalm bedroom, which sleeps 3, is a private room with one queen bed and one single bed.
Wherever you are staying, please be mindful that other attendees' tents, rooms, and sleeping spaces are to be treated with respect. These are private places for those who occupy them and you should only enter with explicit, enthusiastic consent.
Stone Song Center does not allow personal camp fires; please be mindful of that when planning meals. We will also offer a limited number of meal plans for those attendees who prefer not to cook for themselves. Dietary restrictions can be accommodated.
Stone Song Center does not have trash service so please plan to pack out anything you pack in.
If you are looking for a ride, or have a ride to share, post in our Ride Share channel on Discord.
___
Still have questions?
Email admin@stonecirclecouncil.org, post in our SCC FB group, or join our community SCC Discord Server.