Beltane is celebrated every year in the night before May Day on Calton Hill. Over 20,000 visitors go to greet Spring with this alternative famous pagan fire festival starting with the darkness on 30th of April. Unique only to Edinburgh, the festival with the colourful drummers, costumes, theatre, puppets and fire tricks was often threatened with closure. Finally, in 2006 an agreement could be reached between the organisers, the city council, the emergency services, the tourist organisation and the local residents by making it a ticketed event.