For some, May first, or May Day, calls to mind flowers and costumed people dancing in a field, while for others, it's International Workers' Day. Luckily, in Seattle, you don't have to choose: There are events both to celebrate the increasing pleasantness of spring and to support and learn more about labor movements. See them all below.
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MAY 1
20th Annual May Day March
Past Event
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March for the rights of immigrants and workers with El Comité at this 20th annual event. This year will have live music from Espionage and art from La Herencia por Saner. On past May Days, anarchists have broken windows and police have deployed dangerous crowd-control devices, but things have stayed relatively calm in recent years.
Judkins Park, Atlantic
May Day!
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The Fremont Arts Council celebrates spring with a potluck picnic dinner in the park, a crowning ceremony for the Green Man (a person draped in springtime foliage as per the 18th-century English tradition) and May Queen (the human personification of May Day), and a dance around the maypole. They encourage you to "wear something white and don your flower crowns."
Woodland Park, Phinney
Synchronicity
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Spend your May Day among "fairies, nymphs, satyrs, and forest-dwelling creatures" as you celebrate coincidences and the fantastic with the Cabiri circus performance troupe. Wear a costume if you like!
Arcadia, Ballard
MAY 4-25
Red May 2019
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This annual, intellectual "vacation from capitalism" offers new takes on Marx, equality, and economics in community spaces. Hear such talks as "The People's Republic of Walmart
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" (about whether the Waltons have unintentionally fostered conditions ripe for Communist transformation), "The Afterlife of Reproductive Slavery
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" (about the legacy of enslaved black women being used for breeding), "The Secret History of Marxist Alien Hunters
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" (fairly self-explanatory), and more.
Various locations
MAY 5
Beltane/May Day Festivities
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Bring long ribbons, flowers, musical instruments, and your favorite potluck dish to celebrate spring in the spirit of the Gaelic May Day festival Beltane.
Mystic Sanctuary, University Place
Cinco De May Day 2019
Past Event
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Celebrate both Cinco de Mayo and May Day with live music, giveaways, a photo booth, and a bikini bike wash.
Slim's Last Chance, Georgetown
THROUGH JUNE 7
Seattle General Strike Era & Centralia Tragedy of 1919
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The year 1919 saw two major historical events in Seattle: the Seattle General Strike—when workers rallied for better working conditions and higher wages for five days in February—and the violent showdown that followed between radical labor activists and their opponents, which became known as the Centralia Tragedy. This exhibit features historical artifacts and firsthand accounts from both events.
UW Allen Library, University District
