May day was the only major festival of pre-Christian Europe that was not adapted by the Christian church for its own purposes.
Part of a yearly cycle that includes midwinter and harvest celebrations, it stands midway between the long, cold nights of winter and the days of plenty at summers end, with symbolism and ceremony that reflects its pivotal position.
Across Europe the key symbol of the day is fresh spring growth, and the general hope is for fecundity. Traditionally, youths spent the eve of May Day in neighbouring woods and awoke the villagers the next morning by visiting each house, singing a traditional carol and bearing garlands of fresh leaves and flowers.
After the Haymarket Incident, Lucy Parsons, widow of Chicago anarchist Albert Parsons, traveled around the world to encourage people to celebrate Mayday as the international day of the worker. Her efforts, and the subsequent spread of Mayday led to a resurgence in the anarchist movement, and the rise of such revolutionary stalwarts as Emma Goldman, who described the events surrounding the first American Mayday as her revolutionary baptism.