There will be plenty of May Day Events and Activities across Oxford this year. Celebrations will be starting at 6:00am on the 1st May across the city as many bars and restaurants open their doors to customers in the early hours of the day just for this special time of year. Magdalen College Choir will be performing the 7 minute long Hymnus Eucharisticus from the Great Tower at Magdalen Bridge. Shortly after there will be Morris Men dancing in Radcliffe Square, Catte Street and Broad Street starting from 6:15am and continuing at various times throughout the rest of the day.
May Day is believed to signify the start of summer, although summer does not officially start until June, this is the time of year when warmer weather begins to arrive and the trees and flowers begin to blossom. Originating from the Roman festival of Floralia, It was held to honour Flora, the Goddess of fruit and flowers. The celebrations traditionally started at sunset on the 30th April until the 3rd May in the hopes of good fortune for crops and plants the year to come.
Many traditional May Day activities still take place today, Maypole Dancing is one such thing. People would cut down young trees and place them in the ground in their village to mark the start of summer and celebrate the end of winter. School children would skip around the pole brandishing ribbons and when the dance was over the end result would be a beautiful plaited pattern or a tangled cat’s cradle depending on how much the children practiced in advance of the celebration.
Another traditional May Day activity is Morris Dancing, a lively dance often performed by eight men forming two lines or a circle facing each other. They either carry a white handkerchief which they will shake or sticks which they bang against each other whilst they dance. The dancers will often be accommodated by an accordion player. Outfits depend on where they dance in the county, however they usually wear white with a coloured baldric (coloured belt) across their chests.