As its name suggests, May Day is an annual holiday celebrated every year on the first day of May. But what exactly is it? The holiday is devoted to a couple of different events, as it happens. Firstly, it marks the changing of the seasons. No, it’s not the actual first day of summer, but legend tells of ancient pagans who hosted festivals in honor of the return of warmer weather.
For those in the Northern Hemisphere in the modern world, May Day is simply full of promise: clear blue skies, warm weather, and plenty of sunshine are only weeks away. Many May Day traditions are designed to honor this changing of the tide. But this holiday also recognizes workers’ rights. So what’s the story behind these two diverging celebrations?
Popular Traditions
May Day is one of four “cross-quarter days.” The first of May marked the midway point between spring equinox and summer solstice and was essentially the start of summer for Celts. It was customary to celebrate the holiday, known more commonly as Beltane, with plenty of singing, dancing, and merriment in honor of the fresh blooms growing in the fields.
And merry, it was. Bonfires dotted the landscape. Cattle were brought out to pasture. Residents would decorate their homes with fresh yellow flowers — and even dressed up their livestock in the sunny hue! One of the most common May Day traditions was the Maypole dance, which involved winding bright ribbons around a tree and dancing around it. This relatively coy, playful celebration was popular for decades and was celebrated with great enthusiasm through the 1950s.
Another popular pastime was May Basket Day. It’s a wholesome custom that still has its place in some parts of the United States, although its origins are distinctly old-world. To celebrate the onset of the first of May, people filled baskets with candies and flowers and hung them on the doors of friends and family. Some even considered this practice a way of sending a more romantic message. While meant to be anonymous, if the person was caught hanging the basket, then they might have received a kiss in return for their thoughtful gesture.
But there was surprisingly more to May Day than just the seasonal festivities. It was also an optimal day for young people to meet and come together to eventually marry. The idea was to give them time to get to know one another and then, by Midsummer Day on June 24, celebrate their wedding day. The theory is that June weddings are popular today for this very reason.
Labor Rights
May 1 is also important for another reason: It is International Workers’ Day, which commemorates the thousands of industrial workers who staged a strike in their efforts to adopt a more practical 8-hour workday instead of the then-common 16-hour days. After days of unrest and violence, their efforts were ultimately rewarded.
Today, the modern worker can thank these bold and fearless professionals for their ardent efforts. It’s just one great reason to celebrate May Day — along with the promise of beautiful weather on the horizon.
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