Have we forgotten about May Day?

Do you know what you’ll be doing on May 1st? In 2025, you probably aren’t celebrating May Day. This holiday has largely been forgotten, at least in American culture.

May Day is a celebration of the beginning of summer, despite summer technically beginning around a month and a half later. May Day is always May 1, which is generally halfway between the spring equinox and the technical start of summer, the summer solstice. 

This is meant to be a joyful day. The Farmer’s Almanac declares that May Day celebrates crops beginning to sprout in their fields. Some of the traditions surrounding the holiday are meant to “bring in May,” according to the Almanac, such as gathering wildflowers and spinning ribbons around a maypole. Another popular tradition is a roaring bonfire. 

I’ll likely be celebrating my May Day quietly at home, perhaps over candlelight as I lack a backyard or the time to go camping. But, you might find me at the river sometime after class. I’ll be carrying joy about the warm days that are coming, despite the anxiety that will come with starting my first job post-graduation in a few short weeks. 

You, too, can celebrate May Day as your own coming of summer. While you probably aren’t farming fields, you’ve been tending to your coursework all semester and hopefully will be rewarded by the grades that you’ve carefully sowed. You may also be starting a job and that’s the signalling of a new season for you. Or, summer will bring rest.

I hope you get what you want from it.

Image credit to "I Dream of Jeanne Marie"