A typically British Bank Holiday

 A ‘bank holiday’ is a national, public holiday. These holidays were introduced in the Bank Holidays Act 1871, which specified that no person was compelled to make any payment or to do any act upon a bank holiday which he would not be compelled to do or make on Christmas Day or Good Friday. Certain businesses and services are cancelled or altered on Bank Holidays e.g. schools close, banks and shops close or have reduced opening hours and there are usually fewer buses and trains. Traffic on the motorways can be busy with lots of people going to or returning from a long weekend away somewhere.

There are two bank holidays in May: Early May Bank Holiday and Spring Bank Holiday. This year the dates are: 4th May – Early May Bank Holiday and 25th May – Spring Bank Holiday.The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when people celebrate the coming of summer: the warmer weather begins and flowers and trees start to blossom. May Day is officially on 1st May; however, the Early May Bank Holiday to celebrate this holiday is on the first Monday in May.

There is a big difference between traditional and modern celebrations of May Day. Traditionally it is celebrated with flowers, a May queen,  Maypole dancing and Morris dancing – an old English folk dance where the dancers dance in a group and use props including sticks, handkerchiefs and bells. The May Queen is a personification of the May Day holiday and of Spring. She wears a crown of flowers and a white dress to symbolise purity. Towns and villages would traditionally nominate a girl to be May Queen and she would open the May Day celebrations and lead the parade.

A traditional May Day dance is known as Maypole dancing. Maypoles are large poles with colourful ribbons attached to them and each dancer would hold a ribbon as they danced around it; the end result would be a beautiful plaited pattern of ribbons round the pole. Some English villages still have a maypole and, on May 1st, the villagers dance around it. 

You can still see traditional May Day celebrations in small towns and villages in more rural areas of the UK. The town of Knutsford in Cheshire, for example, - not far from Liverpool - elect a May Queen each year and have a procession through the streets: http://www.knutsford-royal-mayday.co.uk/

In bigger towns and cities such as Liverpool there may still be some evidence of traditional May Day celebrations if you look hard enough, however the majority of people see these May bank holidays simply as a longer weekend to spend with family, to spend a couple of days away somewhere or to spend in the sunshine if the weather is good! People in the UK are usually quite disappointed if the weather isn’t good on a bank holiday. If it’s warm then some people may spend time in the garden with family having a barbeque and if you are in the city centre you may notice that there are more people than usual out socialising in bars with friends and having drinks out in the sunshine. Fingers crossed for a nice long sunny weekend!

Do you have any plans these coming bank holidays? If you decide to visit any rural towns in the UK to experience traditional May Day customs then send us some photos!