May Day 2023: What is May Day? Know about its origin, traditions & why it is celebrated on May 1

May Day 2023: May Day is a festival with its roots in Europe that marks the beginning of summer. It is usually celebrated on May 1, which is exactly around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Some festivities are also held the night before the May Day, which is known as May Eve. It is celebrated across Europe in countries like Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and England.

Different countries follow different traditions to celebrate the days, some even have distinct names for the day, but the essence of the day more or less remains the same. May 1 is also observed as International Workers’ Day since 1899 to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago and the struggle for an eight-hour working day.

Some have the view that May Day and International Labour Day are the same, but these two days have no relation to each other.

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May Day 2023: Origins of May Day

May Day has its origins in astronomy. In ancient times, this day was one of the Celtic cross-quarter days, which marked the midway points between the four solstices and equinoxes of the year. But when it comes to early holidays related to this day, it has more roots in agriculture than astronomy.

It was a celebration of sown fields that have started to sprout. It celebrates the springtime festivities with songs and dances around the bonfires. Cattle were driven to pasture and doors of houses were decorated with yellow May flowers.

In the Middle Ages, the Gaelic people celebrated the festival of Beltane, which means ‘Day of Fire’. People used to create massive bonfires and dance at night to celebrate.

It became popular in England with various traditions, eventually arriving in America. Children would dance around the maypole, holding ribbons. People would ‘bring in the May’ by gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving floral hoops and hair garlands and crowning a May king and queen.

May Day 2023: Some iconic traditions

Making a May Basket

People weave a paper basket containing spring flowers and sweets and leave it on each other’s doorsteps. Some also use a cone with these flowers and generally leave it at neighbour’s doors anonymously.

This tradition was popularised in the 19th and 20th centuries. The custom was to knock on the doorbell and yell ‘May basket’ and then run away. If the recipient caught the giver, he or she was entitled to a kiss.

Louisa May Alcott wrote about May Basket Day in the late 1800s. In the 1920s, some bold schoolchildren hung a May basket on the White House door for First Lady Grace Coolidge.

Maypole dance

Originally the maypole used to be a living tree that was chosen from the woods with much merrymaking. Ancient Celts danced around the tree, praying for the fertility of their crops and all living things. For young people, it was also a time of courtship.

If a young woman and a man paired by sundown, their courtship continued so that the couple could get to know each other and possibly marry each other six weeks later on June’s Midsummer’s Day. This is how the ‘June wedding’ became a tradition.

In the Middle Ages, all villages used to have maypoles. Towns would compete to see who had the tallest or best maypole. Over time, this Old English festival incorporated dance performances, plays, and literature. People would crown‘May Queen’ for the day’s festivities.

Today the Maypole dance is majorly celebrated in schools, from elementary through college, as a fun spring activity.

May Day 2023: Different ways of celebrations

Apart from these traditions, the festival is celebrated in numerous different ways to mark the return of spring.

1. Some people wash their face with dew on the morning of May 1 to beautify the skin and bring them some good luck.

2. People in Britain welcome spring by ‘Bringing in the May’ or gathering cuttings of flowering trees like magnolia, lilac or redbud for their homes.

3. In Hawai, the day is called ‘Lei Day’ and people make pretty leis. Leis are garlands or wreaths that are often made with native Hawaiian flowers and leaves. These are symbols of greeting, farewell, affection, celebration and honour.

4. In Ireland, people would make a May bush, typically a thorn bush decorated with flowers and ribbons.

5. Farmers plant turnips on this day to protect cucumbers from insects.

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