It is the month of May / When merry children play / Let every lad and lass / Come dance upon the grass ~ from a traditional Morris Dance tune
In ancient Europe, farming communities across the continent welcomed the arrival of May with joyous celebration — the long harsh winter and unpredictable skies of early spring were finally past as new life took hold all around. In an agrarian world, May is the time when new lambs wobble beside their mothers, the first shoots of future vegetables make their way above ground and the bright green of new grass call children outdoors.
In the Pacific Northwest, local Waldorf schools greet the first days of May in much the same way: by gathering the community together, singing, learning and performing traditional maypole dances, and enjoying other festivities.
For many Waldorf kids, faculty, and parents the annual May Faire festival is a highlight of the school year. In fact, the worldwide community of Waldorf schools has been celebrating May Day 1919.
“I have very fond memories of the May Faire celebrations at the Seattle Waldorf School,” says Amie Alyward, who was a Seattle Waldorf School student and who’s 7-year-old, Wiley, now attends. “I remember being a younger student, maybe first or second grade, and being in awe of the older students and their more complicated dances and the excitement and anticipation of looking forward to learning those dances and one day being one of the big kids . . . the gorgeous flower crowns and getting dressed up!”
“Wiley, has started counting down the days on his calendar,” Aylward adds.
Photo courtesy Seattle Waldorf School
“One of the things that’s important to Waldorf education is the annual cycle of the season,” says Seattle Waldorf Head of School Vanessa Kohlhaas. “Having festivals helps us mark the changing seasons. This one honors the changing of the darkness to light, which we can really feel right now in the Pacific Northwest. We feel some of that warmth outside today and May Faire the celebration of that light returning to our area.”
Seattle Waldorf School’s May Faire celebration will take place on May 3, 2025 at the school’s Meadowbrook campus from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The celebration is FREE and open to the public. Visitors are invited to come to listen to music, play games, picnic, and gather around the brightly colored Maypole as students dance traditional – and not-so-traditional – May Day dances. Flowers are a big part of the celebration. Consider making and wearing flower crowns if you go. Starting at 12:30 p.m. there will be a puppet show for little kids as well as other crafts and games. There will be a cafe and bake sale for fundraising as well!
Photo courtesy Seattle Waldorf School
Celebration as seasonal anchor
“In our schools, we try to help children to feel the warmth and security of that connection to the rhythms of the year,” says Skye Chamberlain, a teacher at Bright Water Waldorf School. “The preparation for and celebration of these special days anchors them in each season, giving them both the thrill of anticipation and the comfort of predictability.” Chamberlain has been a Waldorf educator for 30 years.
“We celebrate an Autumn Harvest festival with a dragon play and challenging games that test the kids’ mettle and courage to help them prepare for the coming cold and dark,” Chamberlain explains “On the other side of the year we hold an all-community festival on the Saturday nearest to the 1st of May to celebrate the rebirth of life in spring at May Faire.”
“Part of the reason these festivals are so important is that they really enrich children’s lives,” says Ashely Umlauf, faculty chair and teacher at Seattle Waldorf School. “They help kids understand that there are not only daily rhythms of life but also seasonal rhythms. They know that every year when the maypole goes up it is almost Mayfair. There’s a lot of excitement around that and they look forward to it.”
Preparation
As May Faire approaches, students get busy.
Says Chamberlain: “Students spend weeks learning dances with their music and movement teachers which they will perform around a flower-topped ribboned Maypole. They come early to decorate the May crowns they will wear, weaving fresh flowers into an ivy or raffia ring. Games, like a Fish Pond with prizes and a decorative Bean Bag Toss, keep the littles entertained. Lady Spring and King Winter may preside over the proceedings, or we may witness a battle between the Winter Witches and the Lads of the Flower. The mood is light and social as folks picnic together and rekindle friendships perhaps sidelined in the busy working year. Dancing and singing together, we re-establish our common bonds and build our community.”
The dances have changed and evolved through the years, says Kohlhaas. “We’re trying to bring not just the traditional dances from traditional (pagan) May Day festivals into the celebration, but dancers from a lot of different cultures as well. It’s really lovely.”
What about May Day’s other symbolism?
May Day, of course, is also the day when workers in many countries campaign for better labor rights and working conditions. Although May Faire’s focus is on welcoming the summer months, Waldorf educators say the day’s contemporary meaning is not lost.
“May Day is, of course, also International Workers Day, a hard-won time to uphold our deepest ideals of equity, and to acknowledge all the folks whose labor makes the world go round,” says Chamberlain. “Our Middle School students in particular write and think about this aspect of May Day.”
During May Faire “the importance of the day around the world is brought up by the M.C. introducing the dances during the festival, as we also remind the community that we are dancing and celebrating on the traditional lands of the Duwamish people,” Chamberlain adds. “The spirit of working together in care, consciousness, and inclusion helps to carry that impulse for the whole community throughout the day.”
The meaning of the Maypole
At the center of the May Faire celebration is the Maypole. Dancers hold onto ribbons and encircle the pole with them as they move around each other. According to Bright Water, “Weaving the ribbons together reweaves the bonds of the community and renews their ties, one to the other.”
“And that’s definitely how it feels,” says Umlaf. “It’s a gathering and a weaving of the community with great energy.”
Aylward says the gathering of community is particularly poignant to her this year.
“I love getting to celebrate these festivals with my children. They were a huge and important part of my own school experience, they live strongly in my memories,” she says. Its been hard to have so many festivals cancelled or modified due to the pandemic, it felt like something was missing from their Waldorf experience. So I am especially grateful this year to have in person festivals once again. Sometimes it can be easy to just stay in your class group, only getting to know the parents and children in your child’s class. Festivals are a time for the whole community to gather and celebrate. And again, this feels especially important after the last three years.”
Fremont May Day Celebration Saturday, May 3
Waldorf isn’t the only local community celebrating May Day. The Fremont Arts Council will hold its annual May Day celebration Saturday, May 3 from 1-7 p.m. The FREE event will include a community potluck picnic, flower headdress making, children’s games, live music, and dance around the Maypole. All ages are welcome. No RSVP is needed.
