What to wear to the May 1 parade. Labour Day. May what holiday is the official name: holiday traditions

The holiday of May 1 or May Day is well known in Russia, the USA, European countries and is celebrated on May 1, or on the first day off of the month. In the recent past, in the Soviet Union, the May Day celebrations were referred to as the “Day of International Solidarity of Workers”, had the status of a state holiday, with fixed days off.

In other states, the celebration, which takes place in the first days of the spring month, is called "Spring Day", "Labor Day", etc. In Russia, since 1997, the first day of May has been referred to as the "Feast of Spring and Labor." It is customary to look for the origins of May Day in paganism, it is popular among citizens, with a geography that spans several continents.

Pagan roots May 1

The ancient Romans began to celebrate the holiday of spring about 3 thousand years ago. After sowing, in order to obtain a good harvest, sacrifices were made to the goddess of the earth and fertility, Maya. The ancient Greeks cut down the branches of the sacred Attis pine tree, dressed them up with fur decorations and solemnly brought them into the pantheon. On the way, they danced, sang songs and rejoiced, trying to propitiate the forces of nature. It is possible that since then the tradition of the spring festival has gone.

In France, Germany, Austria and some other countries of Western Europe, the night from April 30 to May 1 is known as Walpurgis Night. According to popular belief, it was at this time that the rampant "evil spirits" took place. The people gather together, burn bonfires, dance around them, sing songs and even shoot, in order to scare away the "evil spirits" in this way.

Holidays
May 1, 2019

Many countries of the world know what holiday today is, in these countries 05/01/2019 Labor Day is celebrated, previously it was called International Workers' Day.

Labor Day (Labor Day)

On May 1, 1886, American workers went on strike to demand an 8-hour day. This strike and workers' demonstration ended in clashes between the demonstrators and the police and bloodshed.
The Paris Congress of the Second International in July 1889, in memory of this action of workers in Chicago, decided to hold demonstrations of workers every year on May 1. For the first time, the Day of International Solidarity of Workers was celebrated in 1890 in such countries of the world: in Austria-Hungary, in Belgium, in Germany, in Denmark, in Spain, in Italy, in the USA, in Norway, in France, in Sweden and in some others. countries.
Today, the bright spring holiday Labor Day is celebrated in 142 countries of the world. Folk festivals, fairs, performances by artists, peaceful processions and many other entertainment events are organized on this day. For many, this is now another day off when you can just relax and spend time with your family.

Holiday of unity of the people of Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, the May Day holiday has undergone changes since the times of the Soviet Union, today it is a state holiday and is celebrated every year as the Holiday of the Unity of the People of Kazakhstan. The holiday began to be celebrated in 1996 according to the decree of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. On this day, festive bright spring events are held in the multinational Republic of Kazakhstan to unite all the peoples who live in this state.

Living day

- a holiday among the Slavs
The Slavs, deep after midnight on May 1, began a spring holiday - Zhivin's day. Alive in Slavic means "giving life" - this is the goddess of life, spring, fertility and zhita-grain.
According to legend, the Goddess of Spring Alive was the daughter of Lada, the wife of Dazhbog, she was considered the giver of the Life Force of the Family, which makes all living things alive. Alive is the goddess of the Life-Giving Forces of Nature, reviving spring bubbling waters, the first green shoots, she is the patroness of girls and young wives.
In Christianity, the goddess Alive among the Slavs was replaced by the cult of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa.
Women were supposed to take brooms on Zhivin's day, and performing a ritual dance around the fire, cleanse the place of evil spirits, thus glorifying Living, reviving nature and sending spring to Earth. Everyone on that day, clearing themselves of the long winter's obsessions, jumped over the Fire.
The whole day of the first of May (travnia in Slavic) was devoted to rest. By the evening of this day, ritual fires were made along the banks of the rivers, they bathed, purifying themselves in the cold spring water.

Unusual holidays

On May 1, in addition to official holidays, unusual funny holidays can be celebrated: Tangled Legs Day and Wind Ride Day

tangled leg day

What a funny holiday! It was apparently invented by someone who went to a demonstration on May 1 and returned home every year with tangled legs. Yes, this is understandable, because today is May 1!

Wind Ride Day

It's nice to ride, blowing in the warm May wind. When, if not today, on the holiday of May 1, can you arrange a day of rides with the wind? Let the wind in your face, let the sun in your eyes, this day will never be more pleasant!

Church holiday according to the folk calendar

Kuzma Ogorodnik

Few people know what holiday the Orthodox have today. On May 1, Christians honor the Monk Cosmas of Chalcedon, whom the people, to the glory of the Lord, called the creator of the canons. On this day, in the forests and groves, the cuckoo begins to crow, so the day was called the cuckoo. The people on May 1 had such signs: if the cuckoo cuckooed that day, then it's time to sow flax, and if the cuckoo cuckoos on a dry tree, then there will be frosts. It was believed among the people that if a cuckoo flies around the village that day, it means there will be a fire.
According to tradition, beets and carrots were sown on Kuzma Ogorodnik. In Rus', only women were engaged in planting and weeding vegetables in the garden. Digging the beds, they said: "Kuzma came - looked into the cellars, took a shovel - dug up the earth near the hut."
Before sowing vegetables, peasant women came in the morning to secret springs - votive students, soaked the seeds for planting in spring water, and threw copper coins at the bottom of the spring. Or they simply soaked the seeds for three morning dawns in river water. They certainly did this secretly, otherwise they thought an envious eye could bring a lot of harm and there would be a bad harvest. The people said: "An alien eye is envious, and envy that rust will eat the whole crop."
It was believed among the people that if you yourself eat at least one seed from the seeds prepared for planting, all the grown vegetables will be devoured by a worm.
The weather on May 1 was judged by its signs. If May had a warm beginning, then cold will begin at the end of the month, and if the beginning was cold, then at the end of the month it will be warm.
The peasants said: "To plow for Kuzma in a shirt - to sow in a fur coat." May, if it turned out to be cold, then the year should have been fertile. Heavy rains in early May foreshadowed a good harvest. With the first warm May rain, the girls wetted their hair so that it would grow thickly like May grass.
A person who was born on Kuzma's day had to be a good gardener, had to take care of vegetables, and bend his back over the beds. Only then it was believed that his fate would turn out well.
Name day May 1 Vasily, Victor, Vissarion, Yefim, Ivan, Kuzma, Mikhail, Tamara, Felix

May 1st in history

1948 - Formation of the DPRK.
1950 - Polygamy, infanticide, and child marriage are banned in the People's Republic of China.
1951 - US-funded Radio Free Europe began broadcasting to Eastern European countries from Munich.
1961 - Fidel Castro announced that there would no longer be elections in Cuba.
1964 - Died Nikolai Leonidovich Dukhov (b. 1904), Soviet designer of armored vehicles, nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, three times Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR.
1978 - In the UK, the first of May is celebrated as a public holiday for the first time.
1978 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer, People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, author of the famous ballets "Spartacus" and "Gayane" (b. 1903) died.
1987 - The law on ITD (Individual Labor Activity) was adopted in the USSR.
1993 - In Moscow, while trying to block an opposition demonstration on the occasion of May 1, clashes between protesters and the police took place, as a result of which 1 policeman died, from 600 to 800 people were injured.
2004 - Hungary, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Estonia joined the European Union.
2009 - Same-sex marriage legalized in Sweden.

Today May 1 for many is just an echo of the Soviet past. But his story is interesting and unusual. The article will talk about how the International Labor Day was transformed. Yes, indeed, the traditions of this celebration originate in the mists of time. At that time, our ancestors celebrated a holiday that symbolized the beginning of a new season of field work. And that means labor.

goddess festival

The authorities make many adjustments to the people's perception of certain phenomena. The ruling elite at all times wanted to root their ideology in society. The scope of their activities extended in all directions: from the interpretation of history to the establishment of celebrations.

The formation of the tradition to celebrate May 1 is very interesting. What kind of holiday on the first day of the third month of spring was known in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Each of these peoples worshiped She was the patroness of farmers. Every year, the peasants, in order to appease the goddess, staged mass celebrations. The date was May 1st. On this day, any work was canceled. Everyone was celebrating the arrival of the new harvest season. Later, the Romans named the month after Maia.

Russian celebration

Celebrated modern holidays and the Slavs. April 30 and May 1 were highlighted in red on their calendar. The ritual that our ancestors performed was called Radonitsa. The essence of the May 1 holiday among the Slavs is the departure of spring cold. The dead were also honored these days. Gifts were brought to their graves, among which were the Goddess Zhiva, who had the power to revive nature. The whole day of May 1 was taken for rest. People bathed in cold water to cleanse themselves, and burned ritual fires on the banks of the rivers.

With the advent of Christianity, representatives of the church set themselves the goal of exterminating pagan rites. This applied both to Maya, the patroness of fertility, and to Russian rituals of honoring the dead. But getting rid of a cheerful and joyful holiday has become a difficult task. Everyone knew what an important holiday May 1st was, and they continued to celebrate it.

Therefore, it was decided to transform the traditions. The pagan holidays of spring were presented as the triumph of the Resurrection of Christ, adopting some of the original elements.

First day of workers

For ten centuries of Christianity, the holiday of the arrival of heat disappeared and was already celebrated as a miracle of resurrection. But historical events have made their amendments.

In 1856, Australian workers organized a protest march. The main requirement was to transfer workers to an 8-hour working day and at the same time not to reduce wages. Then fortune was on their side. They achieved their goals without bloodshed. Since then, they have celebrated their victory annually.

Thirty years later, in 1886, on another continent, workers in the United States and Canada decided through rallies and demonstrations to also achieve an 8-hour working day. It happened on May 1st. Everyone knows what kind of holiday this day is, but not everyone knows that its story is tragic.

The strikers sought a limited working day (before that it ranged from 12 to 15 hours), fixed wages and social guarantees. Every city revolted. But Chicago became the center of the protests.

Motherland 1 May

The events in Chicago went down in history as the Haymarket Rally. About 40,000 disgruntled workers took to the streets of the city. The next day, one of the leading factories laid off more than 1,000 workers. Offended and unemployed people staged another demonstration. Under the gates of that factory, the uprisings were dispersed by the police, with dozens of people injured and several strikers killed.

Even more bloody events occurred three days after May 1. The history of the holiday has taken a new turn.

On Haymarket Square, in a shopping center, a rally was organized against the reprisals of the authorities. Everything was relatively calm. The police were about to clear the area. But one of the provocateurs threw a bomb at the guards. The police started firing. Many peaceful protesters were killed in the shooting. Repressions followed, and after a while, apologies from the authorities.

The whole world learned about the so-called May 1 revolution. What holiday could be based on these events? Of course, they began to celebrate the victory of the workers over the system!

Underground May Day

He officially presented the event and introduced the Congress of the Second International to the people. This structure united in its ranks socialist workers' parties from all over the world. In 1889 in Paris it was decided to celebrate the day of the proletariat in memory of those who died in Chicago. The proposal to take to the streets of the city every year and fight for their rights has taken root. Since then, the glory of May 1 has spread throughout the world. The holiday in Russia (during the time of the empire) was first celebrated in 1890 in Warsaw. The following year, St. Petersburg was already clandestinely rejoicing at the Day of the Workers of the World. There, the workers hid from the governing authorities in the forest. Under the guise of a picnic, people discussed important revolutionary issues. Moscow also picked up the movement. The first proletarian May Day took place there in 1895.

Openly celebrated Labor Day in 1917. The celebration had a bright political coloring. Slogans, exclamations, portraits of politicians - everything was directed at the class struggle. A year later, with the coming to power of the Soviets, a law was passed stating that from now on, May 1 will be celebrated at the national level. What kind of holiday and how to spend it, every Soviet person knew.

working people time

The brightest May Day actions were organized by the Soviet government. The teams have been preparing for the celebration for weeks. It was not only a day off, but also a large-scale cultural program, which was planned by the elite.

The parades of the Union were envied by the whole world. People went to the demonstrations with pleasure. Everyone fought for the best banner.

In order to bring the masses to the streets in the first years, the authorities cheated. The leaders launched a convoy of vehicles through the main squares, among which was a tank. Onlookers gathered to see the miracle.

The parades of the 1920s and 1930s are remembered for their magnificent acrobatic and gymnastic numbers. Various skits were also staged in which the capitalists were ridiculed. This is what the holiday of May 1 was in the Soviet Union.

Labor Day

A celebration in the Union called International Day started. But later the name changed. Since 1930, May 1 has been known as the International Solidarity Day of the Proletariat. The years of the Great Patriotic War made their modifications. Then the day was renamed the Fighting Proletariat. Further, a new official name was approved - International Labor Day. But the people called him simply - May 1. The history of the holiday originates in the United States, but it is worth noting that workers there rest on the first Monday of September.

In more than 140 countries, workers are given a day off on May 1 or on the first Monday of the month. Another 80 states celebrate the holiday on a different day.

Forgetting traditions

Today, the scenario of the May 1 holiday has acquired new features. It is worth noting that fewer and fewer Russians want to devote this day to mass actions. Experts say that such a decline in activity is due to the fact that during the communist ideology, going to the parade was forced, while now even the parade itself has lost its original qualities.

In modern Russia, May 1 has lost its political context and is celebrated as such a status was officially granted to the celebration on December 30, 2001, which is indicated in Article 112 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

People try to spend this day with friends and family in nature, have a good rest and gain strength until the next holidays.

The first of May or on the first Monday of May in Russia, the USA and many countries around the world celebrate a holiday known by several names - International Workers' Day, Spring and Labor Day, Labor Day, Spring Day.

In Soviet times, most Russians called this holiday according to the date it was held - May 1 or May Day.

How did the tradition of celebrating May 1st come about?

The history of the celebration of May 1 began in the United States. On May 1, 1886, large-scale labor demonstrations began in Chicago demanding an eight-hour day. The action ended in clashes with the police. On May 3, at the Cyrus McCormick Harvester Plant, police opened fire on strikers, killing at least two workers. On May 4, at a protest rally in the Haymarket, a terrorist threw a bomb at police officers, who responded by firing into the crowd. Sixty police officers were injured, eight were killed, the exact number of dead workers was not determined. The police arrested hundreds of citizens, seven anarchist workers were sentenced to death.

A few years later, at the Paris Congress of the Second International, at the suggestion of the French delegate Raymond Lavigne, in solidarity with the Chicago workers, it was decided to hold annual workers' demonstrations on May 1.

On May 1, 1890, the holiday was first held in Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, USA, Norway, France and Sweden. In the UK, it took place on May 4th. The main slogan of the demonstrations was the demand for an eight-hour working day.

Sections of the International in each country were given the right to independently set the date and form of the celebration of May 1, after which in the UK and some other countries the manifestations were transferred to the first Sunday in May.

In Russia, a festive gathering of workers took place on May 1, 1891 in St. Petersburg, it was organized by the Social Democratic group of the revolutionary Mikhail Brusnev.

Public Holiday

After the October Revolution, the holiday became official. In his honor, the first May Day parade of the Red Army was held on the Khodynka field in Moscow, in which about 30 thousand people participated. Military parades as part of the celebration of May 1 became traditional and were held annually.

By the decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the days off of Soviet citizens became longer - on May 1 and 2.

On May 1, 1933, the first air parade took place over Red Square. From that moment on, air parades were held regularly until the outbreak of World War II, as an integral part of the demonstration of Soviet military power.

On May 1, 1956, a television report was made for the first time about a military parade and a demonstration of workers on Red Square. Since that time, festive events on Red Square have been broadcast annually by central television channels.

The official May Day demonstration last took place in 1990. During the demonstration, an alternative column with anti-communist and anti-Soviet slogans entered Red Square. USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev and other leaders of the country left the podium of the Mausoleum, the television broadcast of the event was stopped, and the military parade did not take place.

In 2014, the May Day rally of trade unions for the first time in the history of modern Russia was held on Red Square. Several dozen public events took place in the capital.

Contrary to popular belief, May Day was not invented in the Soviet Union. As early as 1856, Australian workers took to the streets demanding a shorter working day. This idea was not crowned with success immediately, but they had a holiday.

Thirty years later, in the first days of May 1886, workers' rallies took place in Canada and the United States. On May 4, 6 people died in Chicago, the people got angry and came out again. As a result of the explosion and shootout, 8 policemen and 4 workers were killed, and dozens of wounded appeared. The instigators caught were executed in a demonstrative manner - and then posthumously acquitted, since their non-involvement in the explosion was proved.

It is in memory of these events that since 1890 the day of solidarity of the workers of the whole world has been celebrated.

In the Russian Empire, the holiday was unofficial. It was first celebrated with a million-strong demonstration in 1918. The holiday was called International Day. The name "May Day" changed from time to time, as a result, it became known as the Day of International Solidarity of Workers.

On this day, in the cities and villages of the Union, people took to the main streets and avenues to demonstrate their loyalty to the socialist course of development, the pursuit of common ideals and other evidence of loyalty to the authorities. For many, it also meant “not losing the bonus” or “getting time off when you need it”: the closer to the 90s, the less willing to strive for communism for free. Solidarity was expressed, as a rule, in slogans that took into account the acuteness of the moment: if in some country of the decaying West the capitalists oppressed the workers, the latter were certainly pitied.

Labor Day has paradoxically become a holiday: there is no one to work when everyone is at the demonstration. The second of May was also declared a holiday so that people could go to nature or to the country. It turned out to be very convenient. By the way, the word “May Day”, which is now partly forgotten, did not mean the demonstration itself, but precisely such a celebration the next day.

What is the name of May 1 today

Since 1992, the holiday of spring and labor has been celebrated in Russia, as it is called now. Official demonstrations are still being held, but they are organized by different parties that have received permission to march, you can join those whose slogans are closer to you. However, for most Russians, these are now just extra days off that you can spend at your discretion.

The holiday of May 1 is still celebrated in the CIS, in the countries of Europe and both Americas, as well as in Asia (and not only in China and North Korea, but also, for example, in Thailand).