Friday, May 1, 2009

What is a May Pole?

What is Maypole?

Maypole is a long wooden pole used to celebrate May Day or to celebrate midsummer.

It stands in position all year long and is usually repainted or replaced right before May begins. Many times they are short though so they are easy to maintain.

They are decorated with flowers and leaves to signify the new season. They are many times draped with greenery and have ribbons at the top.

Maypole's have many religious significance depending on which culture you are in.

What is thought of as the "traditional" maypole is a relatively recent development of the tradition. This comes from the Italian dances performed in mid-19th century theatricals. It is usually shorter and plainer maypole that people (usually school children) perform dances around, weaving the ribbons in and out to create striking patterns.

1 comments:

Bret said...

Maypoles are fun and they are pretty easy to make. Just buy some fat ribbon and a wooden or plastic pole. Then tape the ribbons to one end of the pole and then plant it in the ground and you have a Maypole for kids to play around.