1. MAY DAY
We celebrate the coming of summer on the first day of May. In many countries 1 May is now a
festival celebrating labour, but originally this day was a nature festival to celebrate new life
and welcome the warmer weather.
Many ancient cultures had festivals at this time of the year. The Celts celebrated the
beginning of summer on the night before 1 May. The name of this festival was Beltane. It was
the opposite of Samhain, the festival celebrating the beginning of winter. On the night of
Beltane the Celts made big bonfires.
At this time of the Romans had a festivity called Floralia in
honour of Frora, the goddess of Flowers and spring.
When they invaded Britain they broughtthis festivity with them.
During the Middle Ages may Day was one of the most important in the year. Everrybody got
up early and went `maying´: they went into the country to collect flowers and branches of
trees to decorate their homes. Then there were games and singing and dancing . The most
important dance was around the Maypole . People chose a girl form the village to be the
`Queen of the May´
In Great Britain May Day is a public holiday. Bur it is not always on the first of May: it is on
the first Monday on May. It is much less important than in the middle Ages, but there are
stilln some traditions.
In traditional Maypole dances children dance around the Maypole. The Maypole, the ancient
symbol of life, has many colourful ribbons on it. The ribbons represent the rays of the sun.
You can also see morris dancingon may day. This kind of dancing probably come from spain
in fifteenth century ,but it is a very british tradition now. Morris dancers dance with
handkerchiefs and bells. They move their feet a lot to maka the bells ring. This was to wake up
the spirits in the earth after winter.