May Poles and Flowers – What is Mayday?

What is Mayday and why do we celebrate it? Every year we gather around a giant pole with ribbons, the Prefects in their best spring wear, and lots of flowers all around. Some students may not like the celebration but it never fails and isn’t a flop here at Hogwarts! Though, why do we celebrate it? What’s it all about? These questions we get quite often for those who don’t celebrate it at home. Let’s take a dive into the history!

Some may think, what is 1st May if not the middle ground between Spring and Summer? We’ve had melted snow for about a month right? And in a month it’s going to be scorching hot? There you have it, the middle ground!

Wrong, well, yes… but there’s more to it than that. Mayday has been celebrated as the Rite of Spring since the early days of the Romans. There they celebrated their goddess of spring at what is believed to be the end of April and beginning of May today! In Gaelic history, it’s also known as the Beltane festival. In Wales, it’s called Calan Mai or Calan Haf. It’s during this time that feasting, dancing, and general celebration of Spring happens. So you really could say it’s a midway between Spring and Summer. There’s flowers, bonfires, crops a plenty, you know, spring things. 

“But Ellie, what about the pole? Why do we dance around it?” Well, glad you asked. WE don’t dance around it but the Prefects do! It was started in Wales in the 14th century, so it wasn’t always part of the celebration. Some will say it’s a silly tradition for children to just have fun, but in reality it’s meant to signify fertility for the crops in the coming season. So really, Mayday is for the farmers! Traditionally there’s only supposed to be about 6 or 8 ribbons on the May Pole but we have way too many Prefects to keep to that. Bottom line, you don’t want to miss the celebration so don your spring best and pick a partner to dance with! See you at the Mayday Celebration!