Thousands of people were expected to take to the streets for May Day demonstrations today. Here we take a look at the history of the day, which stretches back to Roman times.
May Day as a festival is thought to have originated as a day of Roman dancing on which youths would celebrate the coming of spring and pay homage to Flora, the goddess of fruit and flowers.
In medieval England, May Day became dedicated to Robin Hood, with songs and plays performed up and down the country in honour of a hero who symbolised the carefree joys of spring.
Festivities were raucous, too. In London, Mayfair is said to be named after a riotous festival of drinking and womanising held there throughout the 18th Century.
An earlier festival, in 1517, turned to violence when drunken Cockney tradesmen turned upon foreign merchants and rioting broke out.
Many May Day festivities were banned by the Church because of their pagan origins.
In 1644, the puritans chopped down an imposing maple which used to stand in the Strand.
In 1978, the Labour Government introduced the May Day Bank Holiday.
Serious rioting took hold in 2000 when masked demonstrators ransacked a McDonald’s restaurant and trashed other buildings in the City of London.
In 2001, police corralled many demonstrators in Oxford Circus for six hours, and during last year’s protest 54 people were arrested.
Around 4,000 police officers will be on duty at today’s demonstrations and all Scotland Yard leave has been cancelled.
Oil and arms companies, firms with connections to war in Iraq and government buildings are all being targeted by protesters, with the event going under the banner “Mayday 2003 Weapons of Mass Construction – Our Day”.
The London Mayday Collective is organising a demonstration at the offices of United States arms firm Lockheed Martin and then at the headquarters of oil giant Shell.
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