History of
May Day

May Day, observed on  May 1st in many countries, has origins that span ancient pagan traditions and the modern labor movement. Its roots trace back more than two thousand years to the Roman festival of Floralia, held between April 28 and May 3 in honor of the goddess Flora, which included theatrical performances and athletic games. In medieval Europe, May Day celebrations centered around rural communities, featuring dancing, the crowning of a May Queen and May King, and the setting up of maypoles, symbolizing fertility and the arrival of summer. These traditions were influenced by Celtic Beltane, a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of summer, where bonfires were lit to protect people, livestock, and crops, and cattle were driven to summer pastures. In Ireland, the festival of Bealtaine included rituals such as walking through or leaping over bonfires, decorating homes with yellow May flowers, and visiting holy wells.

The modern significance of May Day emerged in the late 19th century as a day of labor solidarity. In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, which later became the American Federation of Labor, called for a national strike on 1 May 1886 to demand an eight-hour workday. This movement culminated in a massive strike involving over 30,000 workers across the United States, marking one of the largest labor actions of the era. The event gained international prominence following the Haymarket Affair on 4 May 1886 in Chicago, where a bomb exploded during a labor demonstration, killing several people and injuring many others. In response, the Second International, formed at a congress in Paris in 1889, designated  May 1 as International Workers’ Day to commemorate the Haymarket Martyrs and support the global labor movement’s demand for the eight-hour day.