by Allen Middlebrooks

For those of you confused about what to do with, if so blessed, your four-day weekend (April 28 - May 1), well then,  grab your sunglasses and  banners proclaiming the arrival of spring and head to Letna to view the competitive cacophony put on by disparate dissidents—anarchists and communists tenuously aligned on one side, radical right-wingers on the other—while police attempt to manage the action and some of the more zealous members of their own ranks. Oh yes, May Day is upon us, and it’s a national holiday in the Czech Republic; however, what many, Czechs included, don’t know is why.

Before the Velvet Revolution in 1989 , there was no question about its celebration, however forced or staged. Under Moscow, May Day in the European communist camp was the traditional workers’ holiday.

May Day Procession, Moscow, 1956

Indeed, in the vein first inspired by the immigrant anarchists in Chicago, Prague’s remnant communists and socialists gather to reminisce about the finer days and to push for their version of a better future. To the largely elderly crowd that traditionally gathers, there is little fanfare. The more vibrant event is staged by anarchists , though it often deteriorates into violence as the police undertake much effort to engage the anarchists, who have also been confronted by right-wing skinheads since May Day 1991.After a particularly violent episode in 1999 , one cannot help but hope that such struggles can continue to be avoided.

Communists in Letna (Photo: CTK)

If anarchy and socialism aren’t what get you outside this Monday, then perhaps May First’s more historical celebration as a rite of spring will rouse the spirits and invigorate the soul. The first of May—six months from November First, or All Saints Day —also happens to be the ceremonial halfway point between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice. (The actual midpoint generally falls around the Fifth.)Several cultures, most notably the Celts and Vikings, have historical celebrations marking the start of summer: Beltane (or “return of the sun”) in Ireland and Wales and Vappu in Finland still borrow from these traditions in their May Day celebrations. And who has not heard about dancing around the Maypole? And, since this year we are graced with May First falling on a Monday, why not make a whole weekend of merriment?April Thirtieth, known as Walpurgisnacht in German, also is celebrated in many smaller, rural Czech towns and villages. Bonfires, witches, and beer abound in this allegedly spooky festival. It also happens to be the night when Hitler and his entourage decided to escape capture in 1945 by committing suicide, as well as the day the Church of Satan was founded in 1966. In 1955, the Catholic Church designated May First as St. Joseph the Worker’s Day, largely in an effort to curb the better-known identification with communism.  

Since the end of Soviet system, other protest-oriented workers’ rights events have emerged in Europe. Originating in Milan in 2001, and now observed in almost twenty major European cities, Prague not included, Euromayday seeks to highlight the plight of the “precarious” in life: those who due to the nature of “late capitalism” and the increasing intermittency of employment lack true job security or full employment. Or on, as George W. Bush dubbed the date in 2003, “Loyalty Day ,” one could still rise on May First to express a love of state and devotion to nation. And thus we return to the forced celebrations for the May Day of old here in the Czech Republic. So on your holiday, you can choose to celebrate the coming of spring or to express your support for the workers of the world; just remember that the next Tuesday is a holiday too.

Average user rating

   (0 vote)