The May Day holiday is usually a lively one for us! In the past we’ve celebrated the old tradition of ‘ales’ – fundraising events towards upkeep of the parish church. “As the name suggests, this was a day of merry-making, with food, drink, dancing and games.” * In recognition of this we’ve held Open Days which have included special guests such as The Heritage Bakehouse and Byatt’s Brewery alongside craftspeople showcasing medieval skills. And last year, we invited re-enactors Coventry Militia to join us and they certainly created a fantastically memorable day.
This year, of course we can’t open our doors, so here are a few suggestions that you could try at home to celebrate the approaching of summer:
Bring greenery and flowers in and weave them into garlands and wreaths or simply put them in a vase.
Create a flower crown – you could use real flowers if you have them, or there is a tutorial here using imitation flowers, or how about a simple, paper flower crown suitable for children?
Dancing around the Maypole
This might be a little tricky to manage in real life this year, but you can still enjoy weaving colourful ribbons or threads to make springtime decorations. You could try a paper plate rainbow to hang in your window or try this woven ribbon heart.
Louisa May Alcott wrote about this tradition in her children’s book Jack and Jill, written in 1880. You may have to skip the leaving surprise baskets this year, but you can still have fun making one of these treat filled cones.
This traditional folk dance has long been associated with May Day. If you’d like to have a go yourself, there is a video here for beginners!
Have fun and stay safe. We started this post with some memories of our May Day celebrations, we’d love to see some of yours. Here’s one to set the ball rolling, a sunny day from 1969, complete with maypole, folk dancing and a Jack in the Green…
