In medieval times, May Day became the favorite holiday of many English villages. People gathered flowers to decorate their homes and churches. They sang spring carols and received gifts in return. They chose a king and queen of May. Villagers danced around a Maypole, holding the ends of ribbons that streamed from its top. They wove the ribbons around the pole until it was covered with bright colors. Dew collected on May Day morning was said to restore youth.

Other European countries had their own May Day customs. In some, the day became a time for courting. In Italy, for example, boys serenaded their sweethearts. In Switzerland, a May pine tree was placed under a girl's window. In France, May Day had religious importance. The French considered the month of May sacred to the Virgin Mary. They enshrined young girls as May queens in their churches. The May queens led processions in honor of the Virgin Mary.

The Puritans disapproved of May Day, and the day has never been celebrated with the same enthusiasm in the United States as in Britain. But in many American towns and cities, children celebrate the day with dancing and singing. They often gather flowers in handmade paper baskets and hang them on the doorknobs of the homes of friends and neighbors on May Day morning. At May Day parties, children select May queens, dance around the Maypole, and sing May Day songs. May is also celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church by electing May queens who wear flowers and lead parades called May processions. Such customs are probably pre-Christian in origin.

In 1889, a congress of world Socialist parties held in Paris voted to support the United States labor movement's demands for an eight-hour day. It chose May 1, 1890, as a day of demonstrations in favor of the eight-hour day. Afterward, May 1 became a holiday called Labor Day in many nations. It resembles the September holiday in the United States. Government and labor organizations sponsor parades, speeches, and other celebrations to honor working people. The holiday has had special importance in socialist and Communist countries.

Walpurgis Night, pronounced vahl PUR gihs, is the eve of May Day, when German people celebrate the feast of St. Walpurgis. According to legend, witches gather on this night and celebrate their Sabbath on mist-covered Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains."

~Information from Compton's Encyclopedia~
"The English morris dance too probably developed from the spring fertility rites of pagan times. It may have been a modification of the sword dance. The performers wore bells on their legs and carried sticks or knotted handkerchiefs.

Dances around the Maypole are also believed to have had a pagan source. They are thought to be remnants of a tree-worshiping ceremony which was part of spring fertility rites. In the ancient ritual the dancers circled about a living tree garlanded with spring flowers to symbolize fertility. During the ceremony each dancer moved forward to touch the tree and so identify himself with plant life."

~Information from The World Book Encyclopedia~
"More information on May customs. Even in ancient times, May 1 was a day for outdoor festivals. In Rome, May 1 fell at a time that was sacred to Flora, the goddess of flowers. The Romans celebrated the day with flower-decked parades. The English also observed many beautiful May Day customs. Maypoles were erected in village parks. On the morning of May 1, the village youths went to the woods and gathered "mayflowers," or hawthorn blossoms, to decorate the Maypole. The girls wore their prettiest dresses, each hoping that she would be elected May queen. The queen danced around the Maypole with her "subjects"."

~Information from the Encyclopedia Britannica~
"May Day in medieval and modern Europe, day (May 1) for traditional springtime celebrations, probably originating in pre-Christian agricultural rituals. Though local usage varied widely, these celebrations commonly included the carrying in procession of trees, green branches, or garlands; the appointment of a May king and May queen; and the setting up of a May tree or Maypole. Originally such rites were intended to ensure fertility to the crops, and by extension to cattle and human beings, but in most cases this significance was gradually lost, and the practices survived merely as popular festivities. A widespread superstition held that washing the face in the May Day morning dew would beautify the skin.

May Day was designated as an international labour day by the International Socialist congress of 1889. It was a major holiday in the Soviet Union and other Communist countries, and elsewhere it was the occasion for important political demonstrations."

"Choose ye this day whom you will serve. As for me
and my house we will serve the Lord."
~Joshua 24:15~

Thank you to Annie's website the above information

http://www.annieshomepage.com/mayfun.html