Beltane

A Celtic pagan fire festival when bonfires are lit, traditionally celebrated on May Eve, the day before May Day. In Wales it was customary to eat oatcakes, in other parts of Britain, gingerbread.

'Young men and maids, old men and wives' used to set off a-maying after midnight on May Eve, with much merriment. At dawn they would return, singing May carols and laden with hawthorn (may), blackthorn and other greenery and flowers to decorate their houses. People who expressed disapproval (suspecting that there was more going on than the simple gathering of greenery) often found their houses adorned with alder and nettle. The word nuts in the old song 'Let's go gathering nuts in May' is probably a corruption of 'knots', the old word for posies or bunches of flowers.

If you're looking for a way to commemorate this event, you might be interested in this article: Commemorations with Cross Stitch