Today, May 1st, is what is known as “May Day” in English.  This day is celebrated as a holiday in many countries around the world with varying significance and varieties of festivities.  The celebration of May Day in the United States began with its early settlers who brought this holiday with them from England, France, and other countries in Europe.  May Day was traditionally a public holiday to celebrate the coming of spring (in the northern hemisphere) and the beginning of the planting season.  A symbol often associated with this holiday is a large pole called a “maypole” which is usually decorated with greenery and flowers and danced around, sometimes with ribbons.

Currently in the United States May Day is considered only a minor holiday that is not celebrate by most people, although often American children celebrate this holiday in school.  Many American children, myself included, have memories of celebrating May Day at school with a maypole, which we decorated with streamers or ribbons.  The origin of May Day as a day for celebration dates back to ancient times in Europe, but over the centuries the celebration of this holiday has changed.    In some countries May Day is a celebration of worker’s rights, and in recent years in the United Sates this has become a day of protest and marches (especially in big cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington DC) to protest for immigration reform and immigrant rights in the United States. In the past few years May Day marches across the United States have drawn out hundreds of thousands legal and illegal immigrants as well as supports of immigration reform, bring to a halt businesses an traffic in large cities.  These marches have been carried out to help make more people aware of the lives and hard work of immigrants in this country.

Whether you celebrate this day or not, and however you celebrate this day, Happy May Day.