May Day celebrations have been more lamented than practised since the killjoy Puritans came on the scene, even if the village of Temple Sowerby still has a maypole (main image).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May Day, according to what seems a somewhat dry entry on Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018is a public holiday in some regions, usually celebrated on 1 May or the first Monday of May. It is an ancient festival.. and a current traditional spring holiday in many European cultures. Dances, singing, and cake are usually part of the festivities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n While different nations look to different origins for the celebrations, the fact in Europe has to be simply that it is a celebration of spring, of blossom, flowers, the birth of lambs and calves; the days are longer, the frosts are fewer.\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the Celtic festival of Beltane (Calan Mai in Wales), it\u2019s associated with lighting bonfires. As most Celtic festivals were! This site https:\/\/beltane.org\/about-beltane\/<\/a> mentions that Beltane was a time for need fires. Which I did a post on that you can read here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n