May Day
For more information on the labour-related holiday, see International Workers' Day. For the distress signal, see Mayday.
For other uses, see May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday;[1] it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures.
May Day falls exactly half a year from November 1, another cross-quarter day which is also associated with various northern European pagan and the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations.
As Europe became Christianized the paganholidays lost their religious character and either changed into popular secular celebrations, as with May Day, or were merged with or replaced by new Christian holidays as with Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and All Saint's Day.
In the twentieth century, many neopagans began reconstructing the old traditions and celebrating May Day as a pagan religious festival again.
A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May. VariousNeopagan groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on May 1st.
Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours' doorsteps.[2]
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