May Day

The May Day festival is unusual in that it has both ancient, pagan roots and modern, political significance.

Beltane

May Day began as the pagan festival of Beltane. This was a spring festival to mark the end of the winter and the return of the sun and life. This was a common theme at this time of the year, hence the fertility associations of many spring time festivals such as Easter. Beltane (also spelled Beltaine) was one of two main pagan festivals, the other being Samhain which took place six months later at the end of October and is connected with the tradition of Halloween.

International Workers' Day

The 1st of May is now designated as International Workers' Day. This is a public holiday in many countries and is referred to as Labour Day / Labor Day.

In the US Labor Day takes place on 1st September.

The linkage between May Day and workers' movements goes back to the late 19th century. In 1884 the American Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions demanded an eight hour working day to be enacted from 1st May 1886

Following the infamous Haymarket Riot / Massacre of 1886 May 1st was declared a day of international celebration of workers by the Paris International Workers' Congress in 1889.

Mayday

There is often some confusion with the international distress signal word Mayday, used for situations of grave and imminent danger. In fact this has nothing to do with the May Day festival and is actually a corruption of the French "m'aidez" - "help me".

Wait a minute - I've lost my pencil again.