Source: St. Petersburg Times
[sptimes.com/2003/05/07/Southpinellas/Spring_loving_Wiccans.shtml]
On May 7, 2003 St. Petersburg Times reported that "in St. Petersburg, some Wiccans celebrated [Beltane] several days before the traditional May 1 date by dancing around the maypole in the courtyard of the Unitarian Universalist Church near Mirror Lake. Thursday through Sunday, many more are expected to converge on Boyd Hill Nature Park at the behest of a cyberspace invitation issued on www.witchvox.com Wiccans take great pains to explain that theirs is a religious tradition. It's based on nature, they say; hence the springtime holiday focusing on fertility. Other major sabbats, or rituals, include: Midsummer, which is celebrated June 21; Halloween or Samhain, Oct. 31; Autumn Equinox, Sept. 21; and Yule, Dec. 21. Wiccans prefer to worship outdoors, where they cast sacred circles and invoke the presence and protection of a pantheon of gods and goddesses."