May Spring Festival

The May Spring Festival, known also as May Day is observed on the 1st of May. It is when people celebrate the coming of summer with lots of different customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter. Traditional English May Day celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen and dancing around a Maypole.

Nowadays May Day is celebrated by schoolchildren and young people in many schools in different parts of Britain. It is celebrated with garlands of flowers, dancing and games on the village green, where they put a maypole - a tall pole decorated with flowers and ribbons. The girls put on their best summer dresses, put flowers in their hair and round their waists, and wait for the crowning of the May Queen. The most beautiful girl is crowned with a garland of flowers. After this great event there is dancing, and the dancers wear fancy costumes representing characters from the Robin Hood legends.

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maypole - майское дерево (украшенный цветами столб, вокруг которого танцуют 1-го мая в Англии)