That’s right it’s time for another holiday, whoopee! May is the favorite month of many, bringing the warmth of spring and, since it’s named after Maya, the ancient goddess of fertility, at least the promise of love. Some say that May also celebrates rebirth, and as such we should rest and reflect on May 1st by taking a day off work. As we said, whoopee!
There are older traditions associated with May 1st than those focusing on labor – May Day in Hungary traditionally saw bands of young men take to the streets in the middle of the night to cut down trees, decorating them with ribbons and putting them at the gate of the house of the girl they loved, often hanging a bottle of pálinka or wine on the tree to win the approval of her father. Pretty romantic we think!
In the morning, the villagers visited the homes of young girls to see whose tree was the most beautiful, and which couples got together as a result. The celebration culminated in dancing around a larger May Tree in the village center, in front of the church.
The Labor Day holiday (International Workers’ Day), meanwhile, dates from the Industrial Revolution in Britain, when factory owner Robert Owen declared that workers should work just eight hours a day, compared to the 10-16 hours common at the time. In Chicago in 1886, workers went on strike on May 1st, for this cause. The so-called Haymarket riots ended in gunfire and the execution of many of those arrested. May 1st soon became a commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs, a celebration of the workers’ movement, and subsequently a holiday in communist countries.
And here’s a bit more history for you: May Day was officially celebrated under the Communist regime, it was the biggest national holiday in fact. The celebrations were massive. There were plenty of parades and marches across the country, accompanied by flag-flying and long speeches. There would be a picnic of giant proportions in the City Park; colorful balloons dotted across the skies, virsli (Frankfurter sausages) being consumed to excess, as well as a good amount of beer flow.
Nowadays, you can expect to see potato candy (yes, candy made from potatoes that nobody seems to like, but every Hungarian can wax poetic about it), sponge candy, chocolate and vanilla fudgy rolls covered with coconut called kókuszrolád, licorice-like black yarn called medvecukor and lollipops in the shape of roosters are among the goodies available.
Another thing you may or may not know is that Hungary, along with ten other countries, joined the EU on May 1st in 2004; another cause for celebration on May Day!