Early May Bank Holiday in United Kingdom

(on the first Monday of May)

1. May Day, or the Early May Bank holiday, is on the first Monday of May each year.

2. The first Monday of May is a bank holiday in the United Kingdom.

3. It called May Day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

4. It is known as the Early May Bank Holiday in Scotland.

5. It probably originated as a Roman festival honoring the beginning of the summer season (in the northern hemisphere).

6. In more recent times, it has been as a day to campaign for and celebrate workers' rights.

7. In many places, the first day or the first Monday in May is celebrated as the start of the summer season.

8. Events are held to celebrate the end of the winter season and the fertility and hope of the approaching summer.

9. A particularly widespread tradition is that of maypole dancing.

10. Children, particularly girls, dance around a tall pole, from which ribbons are suspended.

11. The aim of the dance is to create a decorative pattern on the pole with the ribbons.

12. Many schools, particularly in rural areas, organize displays of maypole dancing.

13. Other traditions include making floral garlands, decorating houses with flowers and leaves and crowning a May queen as a living image of the Roman goddess Flora.

14. In some areas, girls go out very early to wash their faces in the morning dew.

15. This is supposed to make them very beautiful in the coming year.

16. In Rochester, there is a festival of chimney sweeps. Traditionally, May 1 was the only day in the year that they did not have to work.

17. In Derbyshire, villagers decorate, or dress, the wells with flowers.

18. May 1 or the first Monday in May is also a day for large marches, particularly London, to celebrate and demand rights for workers.

19. Many aspects of these marches are organized by the trade unions. Some people travel very large distances to join in the marches.

20. In some years, the marches have ended violently, but in recent times they have remained peaceful.