Why do we celebrate May Day? Wonderful photos capturing the joy of bygone May Day celebrations and traditions

May 1 marks the official start of summer but also International Workers Day. What better reason to take a day out of the office and, British weather permitting, enjoy some sunshine with family and friends?

Even though the bank holiday falls on the first Monday of the month these days, rather than always May 1, the two are inextricably linked. And it is one of the most historic celebrations with different traditions still followed to this day up and down the country.

The first bank holiday of May is full of customs and many Brits have memories of May Day Queens or maypole dancing stretching back over decades. There is probably the odd Morris dancer or two thrown in for those who have been around long enough. And, of course, well dressing which has taken place in Derbyshire for over a century.

So, as we mark May Day 2025, here’s to a glorious time of fun, laughter and sunshine for Britain - while you wallow in the nostalgia of our May Day photos from the past.

The May Day Queen and her retinue at Dipton, 1930.

The crowning of the May King and Queen before the dancing round the May pole at Benefield, Northampton, 1945.

Oxford students on the River Cherwell on the morning of May 1, 1958. Many were there before dawn. They climb into dozens of punts which congregate near Magdalen Tower, from the top of which a choir sings hymns at 6am. After the singing there is a great rush to get the punts up the river where the occupants build fires on the banks and cook sausages and make toast for breakfast. There is also some dancing to bagpipes and singing accompanied by guitars. This lasts for approximately two hours, then the students wearily return to their lectures and studies and life in normal once more in Oxford.

Children dancing around the May Pole in a Coventry suburb circa 1960.

Maypole dancing, Roseworth, Stockton-on-Tees, England, circa May 1972.

Cockney sisters May Pirie 56 and Lillian Hernandez 68 enjoy a day out at the seaside in 1981. They celebrated May Day at Southend on Sea for more than sixty years.

May Queens at the Liverpool May Horse Parade in the city centre on May 9, 1987.

Mary Poppins feeds the pigeons in Trafalgar Square as part of the London May Day Demonstrations April 2001.

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