Freeland meadery hosts free Beltane celebration with music, food, and May Pole dancing

A Gaelic spring festival is coming to Freeland, where Hierophant Meadery will turn its Double Bluff Road property into a free, family-friendly Beltane gathering with music, food and May Pole dancing.

The celebration is set for Saturday, May 2, from 2 to 8 p.m. at 5586 Double Bluff Rd. Beltane, traditionally observed on May 1 in Ireland and Scotland, marks the start of summer and the lighter half of the year, and it was once tied to open pasturing and protection for cattle moved between bonfires.

On Whidbey, the meadery is giving that old seasonal observance a local shape. The lineup includes live music from the Mutiny Bay Brass Band and the Whidbey Island School of Music and Dance, along with a mobile sauna, an auction, yard games, food from Wood Fired Pizzas and Whidbey Pies, and May Pole dancing. The pole itself is being lent by Whidbey Waldorf School, adding another island hand to the event.

Hierophant Meadery’s owners, Jeremy Kyncl and Michelle Scandalis, bought property in Freeland in 2019 and spent much of the pandemic building a new production facility and tasting room. They envisioned the site as a meadery, pollinator sanctuary and herb farm, a mix that fits a Beltane celebration built around spring growth, bees and outdoor gathering.

That vision has helped make the business more than a place to buy a drink. Hierophant Meadery has said it works with beekeepers in the greater Spokane area and emphasizes sustainable, locally sourced ingredients. The company has been operating for more than a decade, which places it in a small group in a fast-changing market: more than 75% of commercial mead producers in the United States are less than a decade old.

The Freeland event also shows how one island business can draw in a web of local partners. Instead of a formal festival imported from elsewhere, Beltane at Hierophant Meadery is being built from Whidbey musicians, food vendors, a school, and a small business that has leaned into seasonal programming on its grounds. For island families and casual visitors, it offers an easy way to mark May Day with a shared outdoor event rooted in old tradition and local collaboration.