Early May Bank Holiday

The Early May Bank Holiday, commonly called May Day, falls on the first Monday of May and has been a UK-wide bank holiday since 1978, making it one of the newer additions to the calendar compared to the Victorian-era originals. Its introduction was closely tied to the international tradition of May Day, celebrated in many countries as a day honoring workers and the labor movement, with roots stretching back to 19th-century campaigns for an eight-hour working day. The holiday also absorbed much older English folk customs associated with the first of May itself, including maypole dancing, morris dancing, and the crowning of a May Queen, traditions believed to descend from pre-Christian spring fertility celebrations marking the transition from winter to summer. Some towns and villages still hold traditional May Day fairs and dawn celebrations, most famously in Oxford, where choristers sing from Magdalen College's tower at 6 a.m. while crowds gather below. The date has occasionally been moved by the UK government for special commemorations, such as shifting it to coincide with VE Day 75th-anniversary events in 2020. For most Britons today, it simply marks a welcome long weekend near the start of British spring and summer.