Samhain is pronounced SOW-in in Irish, with “sow” rhyming with “cow”, while Historic Environment Scotland gives the Scottish Gaelic Samhainn as “Sa-wayne”. The word is Gaelic for the festival and the month of November, and probably means “summer’s end”. In Scotland it survives in Hallowe’en customs such as guising and turnip lanterns, and in Edinburgh’s Samhuinn Fire Festival, held on Calton Hill on 31 October 2026.

Contents

• How to Pronounce Samhain
• History of Samhain
• Experiencing Samhain in Scotland: Practical Information
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Pronounce Samhain

• Irish (Samhain): SOW-in, with “sow” rhyming with “cow”. Transparent Language’s Irish blog gives this respelling, and Omniglot gives the IPA as /ˈsˠaunʲ/.
• Scottish Gaelic (Samhainn): “Sa-wayne”, according to Historic Environment Scotland.
• Common mistake: “SAM-hain” follows English spelling rules. Neither Gaelic form above ends in “hane”.
• Which is right: Both are correct in their own language. Edinburgh’s festival uses the Scottish spelling Samhuinn.

History of Samhain

Much of what is said about Samhain online is modern interpretation. Each section below says who is making a claim and marks what is custom, revival or inference.

Samhain Meaning: Summer’s End

Samhain comes from the Old Irish samain, which Omniglot says possibly means “summer’s end”, though the etymology is uncertain. The Department of Early and Medieval Irish at University College Cork traces the name to the Celtic root sam-, meaning “summer”, and notes that it matches the month name SAMON- on the Coligny calendar, an ancient Celtic calendar found at Coligny in France. The same department points out the oddity that a name built on “summer” marks the start of winter, and says the Old Irish tale The Adventure of Nera probably tells us most about the festival’s nature.

Samhain and the “Celtic New Year”: What We Don’t Know

Scholar Dr Dimitra Fimi says the idea of Samhain as the Celtic New Year was first suggested by Sir John Rhys in his 1901 book Celtic Folklore, using late folklore evidence. She states that there is no evidence the year began on 1 November in pagan Ireland or any other Celtic region. She also notes that the only pre-Christian Celtic calendar, the Coligny calendar from 2nd-century Gaul, seems to begin the year in summer, although it survives in fragments and has been reconstructed in several ways. The Celtic New Year is best treated as a modern interpretation, not a documented ancient fact.

Samhain and Halloween: How the Two Met

Historic Environment Scotland describes Samhainn as celebrated on 1 November, with the festivities starting the night before, and says it was possibly assimilated on purpose in the 8th century, when All Saints’ Day moved from 13 May to 1 November. Fimi, citing the historian Ronald Hutton, takes a different view: she says there is no evidence that Christianity took over the Irish Samhain. The two festivals overlap in date and customs, but how one became the other is debated. In Scottish Gaelic, Hallowe’en night is Oidhche Shamhna, the “night of Samhain”, as Historic Environment Scotland notes.

Hallowe’en in Scotland: Burns, Guising and Neep Lanterns

Robert Burns wrote his poem ‘Halloween’ in 1785, according to VisitScotland, and the University of St Andrews says it was first published in the Kilmarnock edition of his Poems in 1786. The St Andrews collections blog adds that written references to Halloween in Scotland go back to the 16th century, including Alexander Montgomerie’s 1584 poem ‘Flyting Against Polwart’.

VisitScotland describes guising, also called ‘galoshin’, in which children disguised themselves as evil spirits with blackened faces and old clothes, then performed a song, poem or joke before being rewarded. Lanterns were carved from turnips, known as neeps, and VisitScotland calls pumpkins an American invention. Historic Environment Scotland adds that folklore holds that bonfires, called samhnagan in Gaelic, were lit as protection from evil spirits, and that people made fuarag na Samhna, a dish of toasted oats and whipped cream. Whether these customs are survivals from an ancient festival is an inference, not a documented fact.

Samhuinn Fire Festival: Edinburgh’s Modern Samhain

The Beltane Fire Society, a community arts charity formed in 1988, hosts the Samhuinn Fire Festival in Edinburgh, which The Scotsman reports was first held in 1995. Edinburgh Guide calls it a modern re-imagining of an ancient Celtic festival, and says it moved from the Royal Mile to Calton Hill in 2018. The society’s 2026 festival page says the performance tells of the struggle between Summer and Winter, with the Cailleach, the divine Crone, at its heart. It is a theatrical revival, not an unbroken tradition.

Calan Gaeaf: The Welsh Equivalent

Calan Gaeaf is the Welsh first day of winter, 1 November, and Nos Galan Gaeaf is the night before. Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales records that bonfires were lit after dark and that people feared the hwch ddu gwta, a tail-less black sow, and the ladi wen, a white lady. Aberystwyth University’s Dr Simon Rodway notes that the name does not go back to a prehistoric period of Celtic linguistic unity, and that references to the customs appear only in the modern period.

Experiencing Samhain in Scotland: Practical Information

Prices last checked: October 2026
Opening hours last checked: October 2026

This section covers Edinburgh’s Samhuinn Fire Festival 2026. For more planning help, browse our Plan Your Trip guides or the Scotland hub.

• Organiser: Beltane Fire Society, a Scottish charity (SC040137)
• Date: 31 October 2026.
• Venue: Calton Hill, Edinburgh EH7 5DD. See our Calton Hill guide.
• Times: Gates open 18:30, last entry 21:00. The Neid Fire (the bonfire) is lit at about 19:45, and the rituals finish by 22:30.
• Tickets: Advance booking only, through Citizen Ticket. No secondary resale, and the event is not live-streamed. Refunds stop at 23:59 on 28 October 2026.
• Nearest station: Edinburgh Waverley (per ScotRail’s event listing); the society asks visitors to approach from the bottom of Regent Road. See our Edinburgh Waverley guide. Waverley has left luggage; the event has no cloakroom.
• Accessibility: Calton Hill’s ground is uneven and sloped, slippery in rain and very dark, so bring a torch and wear sturdy shoes. A taxi or car drop-off point and carer or companion tickets must be arranged in advance; access forms are due by 23:59 on 28 October 2026 (contact access@beltane.org).
• Children and rules: Under-16s need a ticketed adult, and the society warns the event includes semi-nudity and uninhibited behaviour. Dogs (except guide dogs), glass, drums, fire props, large bags and drones are not allowed.
• Source: beltane.org/samhuinn-fire-festival-2026 and ScotRail

Frequently Asked Questions