May Day

May Day, in medieval and modern Europe, holiday (May 1) for the celebration of the return of spring. The observance probably originated in ancient agricultural rituals, and the Greeks and Romans held such festivals.

Celebrations

Although later practices varied widely, the celebrations came to include the gathering of wildflowers and green branches, the weaving of floral garlands, the crowning of a May king and queen, and the setting up of a decorated May tree, or Maypole, around which people danced. Such rites originally may have been intended to ensure fertility for crops and, by extension, for livestock and humans, but in most cases this significance was gradually lost, so that the practices survived largely as popular festivities.

Among the many superstitions associated with May Day was the belief that washing the face with dew on the morning of May 1 would beautify the skin. The Puritans of New England considered the celebrations of May Day to be licentious and pagan. In the 20th century, traditional May Day celebrations declined in many countries as May 1 became associated with the international holiday honoring workers and the labor movement (see May Day).