Ready to enjoy May Day weekend and find new art and photography installations and events
We’re all looking forward to a great May Day weekend this year, after a hugely challenging year for us all but the weather’s getting better, the days are longer and we deserve to celebrate, re-charge our batteries and generally relax.
History of May Day
So what is the history of May Day? Celebrations go back to pre-Christian times as well as also having its roots in astronomy, as a point in between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. A time filled with agricultural celebration, where we envisage cattle, spring flowers, the May King’s and Queens’, Morris dancers performing at village fairs and of course the great Maypole! May date rites date back to The Romans and the Greeks celebrating with songs and dances. The vision of Thomas Hardy’s Tess and the village May Pole dance is always a reminder of May Day for those Hardy fans out there, signalling new beginnings and the beauty of the season. A definite film for this bank holiday weekend!
This affinity with nature and folklore customs plays a huge role in this traditional celebration. In the middle ages all the traditional villages had their Maypoles where towns would hold competitions to see who had the best Maypole and a whole day of celebrations was one of the highlights of the year.
Of course who would not want to continue these celebrations as much as possible and Oxford’s tradition of this day has always been one of the most memorable.
Photographer David Hicks images of his days in Oxford, enjoying the May Day celebrations are full of the fun of May Day, capturing those moments of celebration, which only a professional photographer can, noticing the moments many of us would not appreciate in quite the same way.
All of that makes for a fun, if not chaotic day, but sadly for the second year running this ancient celebration will be virtual, really not the same though but it’s as near as we can get this year, apart from I’m sure a few separate events of no more than our 6 people allowance!
Why not enjoy more photography celebrating the beauty of nature around us with the Dulwich Picture Gallery – although not open until 19th May you can enjoy the story of photography with this wonderful exhibition online ‘Unearthed: Photography’s Roots’, discovering the ‘story of photography from the 1840’s to today told through stunning still lifes of plants and botany’ and plan for to visit when this exhibition opens mid May.
Or how about enjoying London lit up, stretching across 14 bridges this event aims to light up the Thames into a shining art installation, from London Bridge to Waterloo – designed by Leo Villareal and Lifshutz Davidson Sandilands. Walking along the river and enjoying one of the most beautiful cities in the world lit up seems like a perfect May Day bank holiday moment. Maybe visiting a museum or a drink in a pub, all the things we have missed and are now gradually coming back, as the Spring evolves, the wild animals appear in the garden, we too can hopefully begin to emerge and embrace the beauty of our world and Spring.
London’s bridges lit up as part of the Illuminated River. Photo: James Newton. Image courtesy of Caro Communications.
A day heralding the onset of summer and a day of celebration, this is something we could all do with this year and although we can’t celebrate as we may have done in years gone by nevertheless it is a time to be positive, with Covid restrictions lifting and hopefully some warmer, sunnier days in-store and a good long bank holiday weekend!
Enjoy your May Day Bank Holiday weekend, relax, re-charge and have fun!
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