May Day: How The International Day Of Protest Is Celebrated Across The World

How May Day Is Celebrated Worldwide

Whether it is pagan rituals at Wiltshire stone circles or employment rights marches in Taiwan, May Day has different meanings for different countries across the world.

The day is recognised across the globe as an international day of protest, originating from a 1886 Chicago protest which became violent and saw dynamite thrown at police and protestors shot and killed. Since then, protestors have used the day, which is a public holiday in many countries, to fight for workers' rights and other causes.

Across the world this May Day, as ever, there will be protests in a vast number of countries. Already, there have been prominent marches in Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan and Malaysia, with protests across the rest of Asia, Europe and the Americas to come.

The day also happens to fall on a spring festival celebrated by Pagans as the day where spring passes over into summer. In Avebury, Wiltshire, Pagans were out in force to the town's stone circles to commemorate the day, which also is said to celebrate fertility in nature.

The American state and island of Hawaii celebrates Lei Day on 1 May, a day to remember the culture of the island.

See the slideshow below to find out what will be happening across the world today...

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