Editing Maypole (section)

====Italy====
[[File:"Red" maypole at Appignano del Tronto (AP) - Italy.jpg|right|thumb|A traditional 'red' maypole in [[Ascoli Piceno]], Italy]]
Maypole traditions can be found in some parts of [[Italy]], such as in [[Veneto]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://corrierealpi.gelocal.it/belluno/cronaca/2017/04/28/news/sull-altopiano-di-lamon-torna-l-antico-rituale-del-majo-1.15267154 |date=28 April 2017 |title=Sull'altopiano di Lamon torna l'antico rituale del Majo |language=it |work=[[Corriere delle Alpi]]}}</ref> [[Friuli]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.prolocoregionefvg.it/ai1ec_event/festa-del-palo-di-maggio/?instance_id= |title=Festa del Palo di Maggio |language=it |publisher=Regional Government of Friuli Venezia Giulia |access-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> [[Umbria]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.giraitalia.it/eventi_folkloristici/5739_alzata_del_palo_di_maggio_a_san_pellegrino.html |title=Alzata del palo di Maggio a San Pellegrino |language=it |website=Gira Italia |publisher=InItalia.it Srl |access-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> and [[Marche]]. In the last of these regions, the tradition dates back to the [[Napoleonic campaigns]], when the {{lang|fr|[[arbre de la liberté]]}} (Liberty tree), the symbol of the [[French Revolution]], arrived in Italy. Liberty trees were erected in the southern part of the region in [[Ripatransone]] and [[Ascoli Piceno]]. In 1889, the first congress of the [[Second International]], met in [[Paris]] for the centennial of the [[French Revolution]] and the [[Exposition Universelle (1889)|Exposition Universelle]]. A proposal by [[Raymond Lavigne]] called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the [[Chicago]] protests. After the institution of the [[International Workers' Day]] the maypole rite in the southern part of the March became a [[Socialism|socialist]] ritual. At the top of the tree ([[Populus|poplar]]) appeared the [[Red flag (politics)|red flag]]. In the second half of the 20th century, the rite of the maypole around Ascoli remained a rite of celebration of spring but it became also a political symbol of the peasant movement ({{lang|it|[[metayage|mezzadri]]}}) that struggled against the landowners to have decent living conditions. Every year, even today, on the night of 30 April, in many villages of the zone like [[Appignano del Tronto]], [[Arquata del Tronto]], [[Ascoli Piceno]], [[Castorano]], [[Castignano]], [[Castel di Lama]], [[Colli del Tronto]], [[Grottammare]], [[Monsampolo del Tronto]], Porchia (Montalto Marche), [[Monteprandone]], [[Offida]], [[Rotella, Marche|Rotella]], [[Spinetoli]], [[San Benedetto del Tronto]], citizens cut a poplar on which they put-up a red flag and the tree is erected in village squares or at crossroads.<ref name="vagnarelli">{{Cite book
  | last = Vagnarelli
  | first = Gianluca
  | title = L'albero di maggio. Memoria e simbolismo politico di un rito laico
  | url = http://www.ascolistoria900.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=171&Itemid=107
  | publisher = ISML Ascoli Piceno
  | language = it
  | year = 2012
  }}</ref>

{{Quote|After we've gone to get the pole in thirty or forty people, we placed it like a six-month child. We walked in procession with this tree and not even a single leaf had to touch the ground. We had to raise it without making it touch the ground, holding it in our arms like a child. For us it was the saint of the 1st of May|author=Quirino Marchetti (ancient peasant of San Benedetto del Tronto)|source=<ref name="vagnarelli" />}}

The same ritual is known from [[Lamon]], a village in the Dolomites in Veneto, which likely predates the Napoleonic period. Here, a number of quarters and hamlets erect a maypole in the form of a larch whose branches and bark are almost completely removed. Only the top branches are left. A red flag is normally attached, although Italian flags or flags of other countries (Colombia, Bolivia for example) or artists (Bob Marley) are also attested.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://corrierealpi.gelocal.it/belluno/foto-e-video/2017/05/02/fotogalleria/a-lamon-l-antica-tradizione-del-majo-1.15281328#1M |date=2 May 2017 |title=A Lamon l'antica tradizione del Majo |language=it |work=[[Corriere delle Alpi]]}}</ref> Around the maypole, quarters and hamlets give feasts with music, food, and alcohol which usually last until the dawn of 1 May. The Maypole is locally called 'Majo' (May in the local dialect).