May Day

May Day is the holiday of the first day of the month of May. But before 1752, when the calendar was changed, it was 11 days earlier.

It is the time of year when warmer weather begins and flowers and trees start to blossom. It is said to be a time of love and romance. It is when people celebrate the coming of summer with lots of different customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter.

May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, goddess of flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. People decorated their houses and villages with fresh-cut flowers gathered at dawn in the belief that the vegetation spirits would bring good fortune.

May 1st was an important day in the Middle Ages. In the very early morning, young girls went into the fields and washed their faces with dew. They believed this made them very beautiful for a year after that. Also, on May Day the young men of each village tried to win prizes with their bows and arrows.

In some places May Day celebrations begin at sunset on 30 April. They include lots of floral decorations and processions through towns and villages.

May is the month for traditional dancing around the maypole. Many English villages still have a maypole, and on May 1st, the villagers dance around it.

The original maypoles were freshly felled trees, stripped of their branches, brought into the community and adorned with garlands and ribbons. The Maypole was originally a pagan fertility symbol.