Editing May Day (section)

==Southeastern Europe==
=== Bulgaria ===
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On May Day, [[Bulgarians]] celebrate Irminden (or Yeremiya, Eremiya, Irima, Zamski den). The holiday is associated with snakes and lizards and rituals are made in order to protect people from them. The name of the holiday comes from the prophet [[Jeremiah]], but its origins are most probably pagan.

It is said that on the days of the [[Forty Martyrs of Sebaste|Holy Forty]] or [[Annunciation]] snakes come out of their burrows, and on Irminden their king comes out. Old people believe that those working in the fields on this day will be bitten by a snake in summer.

Western Bulgarians light fires, jump over them and make noises to scare snakes. Another custom is to prepare "podnici" (special clay pots made for baking bread).

This day is especially observed by pregnant women so that their offspring do not catch "yeremiya"—an illness due to evil powers.

=== Greece ===
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1 May is a day that celebrates Spring.

Maios (Latin [[Maius]]), the month of May, took its name from the goddess [[Maia]] (Gr {{lang|grc|Μαία, the nurse}}), a Greek and Roman goddess of fertility. The day of Maios (Modern Greek Πρωτομαγιά) celebrates the final victory of the summer against winter as the victory of life against death. The celebration is similar to an ancient ritual associated with another minor demi-god [[Adonis]] which also celebrated the revival of nature. There is today some conflation with yet another tradition, the revival or marriage of [[Dionysus]] (the Greek God of theatre and wine-making). This event, however, was celebrated in ancient times not in May but in association with the [[Anthesteria]], a festival held in February and dedicated to the goddess of agriculture [[Demeter]] and her daughter [[Persephone]]. [[Persephone]] emerged every year at the end of winter from the Underworld. The Anthesteria was a festival of souls, plants and flowers, and Persephone's coming to earth from [[Hades]] marked the rebirth of nature, a common theme in all these traditions.

What remains of the customs today, echoes these traditions of antiquity. A common, until recently, May Day custom involved the annual revival of a youth called [[Adonis]], or alternatively of [[Dionysus]], or of [[Maius|Maios]] (in Modern Greek Μαγιόπουλο, the Son of [[Maia]]). In a simple theatrical ritual, the significance of which has long been forgotten, a chorus of young girls sang a song over a youth lying on the ground, representing [[Adonis]], [[Dionysus]] or [[Maius|Maios]]. At the end of the song, the youth rose up and a flower wreath was placed on his head.

The most common aspect of modern May Day celebrations is the preparation of a flower wreath from wild flowers, although as a result of urbanisation there is an increasing trend to buy wreaths from flower shops. The flowers are placed on the wreath against a background of green leaves and the wreath is hung either on the entrance to the family house/apartment or on a balcony. It remains there until midsummer night. On that night, the flower wreaths are set alight in bonfires known as [[Saint John's Eve|Saint John's fires]]. Youths leap over the flames consuming the flower wreaths. This custom has also practically disappeared, like the theatrical revival of Adonis/Dionysus/Maios, as a result of rising urban traffic and with no alternative public grounds in most Greek city neighbourhoods.

=== Hungary ===
In Hungary it is called St. Philip and Jacob's day or sometimes Zöldfarsang. However, contrary to the name, the ecclesiastical explanation of the feast actually refers to the miracle of [[Saint Walpurga|St. Walpurga]]. In contrast, the [[Walpurgis Night|Hexennacht]] tradition has survived in only a few places, with witchcraft traditions usually taking place on other days.

The Majális, a merry folk festival, was usually held in a nearby forest, with the food and drink being taken along, which was usually attended by the whole town. There were sack-races, tree climbing, wrestling, strength tests, horse races, singing, dancing and military songs. It was a day of relaxing and walking in nature.
[[File:Szinyei Merse, Pál - Picnic in May - Google Art Project.jpg|alt=Szinyei Merse Pál: Majális|thumb|250x250px|[[Pál Szinyei Merse|Paul Szinyei Merse]]: Majális. The painting portraying the Majális picnic.]]
The Majális has a rich tradition in the country, celebrated with dance festivals, concert series and funfairs, set up all throughout the country. There is also an ''utcabál'' ("street bal"), when the streets are often filled with dancing residents.

In smaller settlements like (in e.g. [[Pilisszentkereszt]]) together with their neighbouring municipalities, set up a May Pole.

In Hungary it was customary to set up [[Maypole|May Poles]] (májfa or májusfa) in several places in the town. It was usually set on May Day or Pentecost. Sometimes they were just tied to the fence, but most of the time they were planted in the ground. The trees were carved and erected in secret, usually in the dead of night. The aim was always to go out with the girls. the boys set them up (usually one for every unmarried girl) and it was danced around together. For the night the tree was usually guarded, so that it would not be taken away by rivals, or toppled by a rival's courting team.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-05-01 |title=Májusfa-állítás: szerelmek, konfliktusok, tréfák, népszokások |url=http://sokszinuvidek.24.hu/eletmod/2016/05/01/majusfa-allitas-szerelmek-konfliktusok-trefak-nepszokasok/ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=Sokszínű vidék |language=hu}}</ref>

"Drink water on an empty stomach: the lungs will be renewed" - they used to say in Transylvania, where it was customary for girls to go to the spring or river on this day to wash their faces in water, which was believed to have magical powers to make them beautiful and healthy. Other superstitions include decorating the house with elderberries to ward off witches, and that the butter spat out on this day, called Philip-Jacob butter, can be used to treat earache.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MÁJUS 1. {{!}} Magyar néprajz {{!}} Kézikönyvtár |url=http://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/MagyarNeprajz-magyar-neprajz-2/vii-nepszokas-nephit-nepi-vallasossag-A33C/szokasok-A355/jeles-napok-unnepi-szokasok-A596/majus-A773/majus-1-A774/,%20https://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/MagyarNeprajz-magyar-neprajz-2/vii-nepszokas-nephit-nepi-vallasossag-A33C/szokasok-A355/jeles-napok-unnepi-szokasok-A596/majus-A773/majus-1-A774/,%20http://www.arcanum.hu/hu/online-kiadvanyok/MagyarNeprajz-magyar-neprajz-2/vii-nepszokas-nephit-nepi-vallasossag-A33C/szokasok-A355/jeles-napok-unnepi-szokasok-A596/majus-A773/majus-1-A774/,%20https://www.arcanum.hu/hu/online-kiadvanyok/MagyarNeprajz-magyar-neprajz-2/vii-nepszokas-nephit-nepi-vallasossag-A33C/szokasok-A355/jeles-napok-unnepi-szokasok-A596/majus-A773/majus-1-A774/ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=www.arcanum.com |language=hu}}</ref>

===Romania===
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On May Day, the [[Romanians]] celebrate the ''arminden'' (or ''armindeni''), the beginning of summer, symbolically tied with the protection of crops and farm animals. The name comes from [[Slavonic languages|Slavonic]] ''Jeremiinŭ dĭnĭ'', meaning prophet [[Jeremiah]]'s day, but the celebration rites and habits of this day are [[apotropaic]] and [[pagan]] (possibly originating in the cult of the god [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]]).

The day is also called ''ziua pelinului'' ("[[mugwort]] day") or ''ziua bețivilor'' ("drunkards' day") and it is celebrated to ensure good wine in autumn and, for people and farm animals alike, good health and protection from the elements of nature (storms, hail, illness, pests). People would have parties in natural surroundings, with ''lăutari'' (fiddlers) for those who could afford it. Then it is customary to roast and eat lamb, along with new mutton cheese, and to drink mugwort-flavoured wine, or just red wine, to refresh the blood and get protection from diseases. On the way back, the men wear [[lilac]] or mugwort flowers on their hats.

Other apotropaic rites include, in some areas of the country, people washing their faces with the morning dew (for good health) and adorning the gates for good luck and abundance with green branches or with [[birch]] saplings (for the houses with maiden girls). The entries to the animals' shelters are also adorned with green branches. All branches are left in place until the wheat harvest when they are used in the fire which will bake the first bread from the new wheat.

On May Day eve, country women do not work in the field as well as in the house to avoid devastating storms and hail coming down on the village.

''Arminden'' is also ''ziua boilor'' (oxen day) and thus the animals are not to be used for work, or else they could die or their owners could get ill.

It is said that the weather is always good on May Day to allow people to celebrate.

===Serbia===
"Prvomajski uranak" (Reveille on 1 May) is a folk tradition and feast that consists of the fact that on 1 May, people go in the nature or even leave the day before and spend the night with a camp fire. Most of the time, a dish is cooked in a kettle or in a barbecue. Among Serbs this holiday is widespread. Almost every town in Serbia has its own traditional first-of-may excursion sites, and most often these are green areas outside the city.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/celebrate-may-day-serbian-style-04-24-2017 |title=Celebrate May Day, Serbian Style |date=1 May 2017 |website=Balkan Insight |access-date=18 October 2018}}</ref>