Does anyone celebrate May Day anymore?

Question

When we were little we made flowers in class and went home and knocked on the door, left the flowers and ran around the house. It was a suprise for mom. Just wondering if anyone besides me, still as an adult, kept the tradition going? I have moved on to plants and just recently with my daughter made flowers with her pics in the middle.

its May 1st!

Answer 1

Oh, wow, its been years,We would clip lilacs in a bunch and pick violets and wrap a wet paper towel on them so they would not die, and do that. Also would take a bunch of flowers and leave them at the alter of Mary at church. that is what May Day was for, to honor Mary. I don't think anyone I know does that anymore though. Guess the world has moved on without a lot of our traditions. now i feel kind of sad. Glad you have kept it going with your daughter. That's wonderful!
You should get 20 points for this! Bless you.

Answer 2

The town where I grew up still celebrates May Day - there is a huge May Day Fete, with a hog roast and loads of stalls. The whole town turn out, its more festive than christmas! I've not heard of the flowers tradition, but that is a lovely idea - I'll read up about May Day and maybe start seom traditions of my own.

Answer 3

In Hawaii, May Day is Lei Day. Similar to yours because it has to do with flowers. Children go to school with Aloha attire and wear flower leis that their parents make for them. The school is filled with sweet tropical smelling flowers! Grown-ups also go to work with aloha attire and wearing flower leis or flower in their hair. Its a beautiful day in Hawaii on May Day. The schools also have a hawaiian ceremony with a Hawaiian King & Queen to reign over the festivities. They also got their Alii Bearers (like soldiers or guards) and their Princesses for each hawaiian islands dressed in a hawaiian gown with the island color that they represent. Also their Lady in Waiting. Very beautiful! Hawaii really celebrate May Day with alot of flowers and grace. The Aloha Spirit. Aloha Nui Loa (with a lot of love).

Answer 4

I know the Chinese do. May Day is called International Workers' Day.

In the People's Republic of China, International Workers' Day marks the start of one of the country's three so-called "Golden Weeks". Three days off work are given, and the surrounding weekends are re-arranged so that workers in Chinese workplaces always have seven continuous days of holiday starting on the first of May and ending on the seventh. This holiday, known as "Wu Yi" (literally "5.1") also includes Youth Day on May 4, and is the peak period for Chinese citizens to travel around China and abroad. Also on this day, a huge parade goes through Tian'anmen Square. It is the largest national parade of the whole year, always televised on CCTV. Most of the parade consists of military demonstrations like air shows and marching soldiers, and many who are selected to join the parade see it as a privilege and take pride in it. The government mandates the "Golden Weeks" holidays more for the purpose of rejuvenating the country's tourist business than its political purpose.

Answer 5

Home » General Campaigns, Projects and Publications of the IWW » MAY DAY - International Workers Day» The Brief Origins Of May Day
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moreby Eric Chase

Most people living in the United States know little about the International Workers' Day of May Day. For many others there is an assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in state communist countries like Cuba or the former Soviet Union. Most Americans don't realize that May Day has its origins here in this country and is as "American" as baseball and apple pie, and stemmed from the pre-Christian holiday of Beltane, a celebration of rebirth and fertility.

In the late nineteenth century, the working class was in constant struggle to gain the 8-hour work day. Working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work 10 to 16 hour days in unsafe conditions. Death and injury were commonplace at many work places and inspired such books as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Jack London's The Iron Heel. As early as the 1860's, working people agitated to shorten the workday without a cut in pay, but it wasn't until the late 1880's that organized labor was able to garner enough strength to declare the 8-hour workday. This proclamation was without consent of employers, yet demanded by many of the working class.

At this time, socialism was a new and attractive idea to working people, many of whom were drawn to its ideology of working class control over the production and distribution of all goods and services. Workers had seen first-hand that Capitalism benefited only their bosses, trading workers' lives for profit. Thousands of men, women and children were dying needlessly every year in the workplace, with life expectancy as low as their early twenties in some industries, and little hope but death of rising out of their destitution. Socialism offered another option.

Answer 6

A lot of pagans celebrate May Day (Beltane), but I don't see many other adults doing the same in my area (Scandinavian/German). It could very well be that since there aren't many immigrants from those cultures still alive, that it has passed by the wayside.

Answer 7

Yes, of course. We have a big celebration planned.

Answer 8

Whats May Day?? Thats your point right there.

Answer 9

well my birthday is MAY 1ST SO YEA

Answer 10

it don't mean any thing to me it,s jest another day for me.pilots use to say it when they crash maybe it,s a war thing for pilots.