Bealtaine Festival 2022

Bealtaine is Ireland’s national festival which celebrates the arts and creativity as we age. The festival is run by Age & Opportunity, the leading national development organisation working to enable the best possible quality of life for us all as we age.

Age & Opportunity Arts provides opportunities for older people to be more creative more often, to create meaningful participation and representation for all older people in cultural and creative life and to demonstrate and celebrate how our creative potential can improve with age.

Established in 1995, Bealtaine is one of Ireland’s largest co-operative festival and the world’s first national celebration of creativity in older age. The Festival has inspired a number of international festivals including Luminate in Scotland, Gwanwyn in Wales, the Age of Creativity in England, and others across the world.

Bealtaine takes place each May for the entire month. The ancient festival of Bealtaine or Beltane (held on May 1), marked the midway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, and heralded the start of summer. The word Bealtaine is still used in the Irish language and translates as the month of May.

The Festival brings together people from all over Ireland to foster and inspire creativity among older people and to promote the skills, experiences and exposure that can lead to a rich creative life for all older people.