May Day is a public holiday that is celebrated on May 1st. This is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. We usually see dances, singing, and cake as part of the celebrations. International Workers' Day may also be referred to as "May Day", but it is a different celebration from the traditional May Day. In the late 19th century, May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day by the Socialists and Communists of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago.
The first May Day celebrations was seen with the Floralia, festival of Flora, that was held on April 27th during the Roman Republic era. The day was a traditional summer holiday in many European cultures. While February 1st was the first day of spring, May 1st was the first day of summer. By the time Europe became Christianised, the pagan holidays lost their religious characteristics and May Day changed into a popular secular celebration. May Day is not just celebrated in the US, but all around the world.
The most famous May Day celebration involves a maypole. The maypole takes many forms depending on the specific European country. It is always a long, straight pole, but may range from a long, straight tree trunk to a resembling a barbershop pole. The most well-known example in the States involves a pole with ribbons hanging from the top. People take hold of the ribbons and perform a dance that wrap the ribbons around the pole. The dance ends when the ribbons are completely woven around the pole.
May Day in Other European Countries
România:
On May 1 Romanians celebrate a holiday known as the Arminden. The holiday consists of many apotropaic practices. For instance, oxen are not allowed to be put to work to avoid bad luck like disease or death of them and their owners. Women also do not work the day before the first of May to avoid hail storms coming down on the village.
Greece:
In Greece, May Day celebrations are associated with the goddess Maia, a Greek goddess of fertility. One tradition is a skit where girls sing a chorus over a young boy lying on the ground. Who the youth represents is conflicting, usually it is Adonis, Dionysus, or Maios. After the chorus, the youth stands up and a flower wreath is placed on his head.
Flower wreaths also play a larger role in another tradition. They are made of wildflowers (or in modern times, just bought from flower shops) and hung on a background of green leaves on a doorway or balcony. The wreaths hang until midsummer night (the evening of St. John’s Day) and burned in bonfires known as St. John’s fires.
Italy:
Italy calls May Day Calendimaggio. It is a feast held to celebrate the arrival of spring. In another ritual, special carolers called maggerini visit houses. In exchange for gifts like eggs, wine, and sweets, the maggerini sing verses promising luck, love, and prosperity. The carolers decorate themselves in symbolic plants representing revival and long life, like alder, golden rain, violets, and roses.
France:
On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily-of-the-valley flower as a good luck charm. It then became a tradition in his court to give a lily-of-the-valley to ladies of the court. The tradition was co-opted in the early 20th century into a custom of giving a sprig of the flower on May 1. In modern times, people present bouquets of lily-of-the-valley and dog rose flowers to their loved ones on May Day as a symbol of luck.
Mayday as a Distress Signal
Mayday is not just a holiday, it’s also a term to designate a state of emergency for air and marine communications. To distinguish it from the holiday, it is one word (‘mayday’ instead of ‘may day’) and is repeated 3 times.
The use of “mayday” as a distress signal actually has nothing to do with the holiday of May Day. In 1923, Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior officer at London’s Croydon Airport, came up with the term as a corruption of the French m’aider, a shortened version of venez m’aider (“come help me”.)
Whether or not you celebrate May Day, there’s no denying that the diverse celebrations among the different countries are fascinating. This spring, celebrate the rebirth of the earth by enlivening your knowledge.
where flower blooms,
so as hope