May Day

Held on : 1st May

May Day celebrations are one of the most ancient celebrations. These date back to pre-Christian era, with the festival of Flora the Roman Goddess of flowers, the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. The day was a traditional summer holiday in many European pagan cultures. May Day marked the end of the uncomfortable winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular celebrations. Mostly it is a celebration of spring and the rebirth taking place in nature often celebrated by pagan cults that worshipped trees and other symbols of nature. Traditionally, May Day is characterized by the gathering of flowers and the fertility rite of dancing around the maypole.

May Day is celebrated in various countries in various different ways:

• England - May Day celebrations include Morris dancing, May Queen crowning and Maypole (tall wooden pole) around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons.

• France - On May 1st, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom on the 1st of May, to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime. It is also traditional for the lady receiving the spray of lily of valley to give a kiss in return.

• Finland - Carnival-style festivities include students party, picnics, wearing the student cap. All political organizations also arrange speeches and such events.

• Germany - In rural areas of Germany, especially the Harz Mountains celebrations are traditionally held on the night before May Day, including bonfires, wrapping of maypoles and partying. In Rhineland (western Germany) a lover delivers a tree covered in streamers to the house of a girl the night before to show his interest.

• Hawaii - It was invented by a poet and a local newspaper columnist in the 1920s. It has since been adopted by state and local government as well as by the residents and has becaome a general spring celebration and native Hawaiian culture in particular.

• Ireland - Bonfires are lit to mark the coming of summer and to banish the long nights of winter in this country.

• Scotland - In St Andrews, some of the students gather on the beach late on April 30 and run into the North Sea at sunrise on May Day, occasionally naked. This is accompanied by torchlit processions and much elated celebration.

• U.S.A. - Celebrations in the U.S. vary greatly from region to region. The largest is the May Day Parade and Pageant created by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre in Minneapolis. In some parts of the US, May day is observed by making May Baskets. These baskets are small and usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone's doorstep. The basket giver would ring the bell and run away. The person receiving the basket would try to catch the fleeing giver. If they caught the person, a kiss was to be exchanged.

Worker Related Celebrations - In socialist and communist countries May Day became a labour festival honouring the military and industrial efforts of the country. In US the eight-hour movement to reduce the working day from 10 to eight hours began after the Civil War. It was a major aim of the National Labour Union, whose first congress met in 1866. By 1868 congress and six states passed an eight-hour legislation. In 1884 the National Federation of Organized Trades and Labour Assemblies decided to call for a general strike on May 1, 1886, to enforce demands for employers to observe the eight-hour day. Thus May 1 gained importance to mark the fight for the eight hour day. the However the choice of May 1st became a commemoration for the people involved in the 1886 Haymarket affair. For more info - http://knowledge.targetstudy.com/day/31/international-labour-day.html

Alternate Names - Workers related - International Workers' Day, Labour Day, Labor Day (U.S.A.), Primero de Mayo (in Mexico)

Alternate Names - Spring or other related - Lei Day (in Hawaii)

Holiday Status - It is a holiday in majority of countries.