Public holidays · 2024
May Day falls on Monday, 6 May 2024 in United Kingdom in 2024.
A public holiday across United Kingdom: most employees have the day off.
In 2024 it falls on a Monday, a working day.
The date changes from year to year.
Saturday and Sunday · A public holiday does not always close every business. Essential services, shops and some industries keep working, and pay rules differ by country and contract.
International Workers' Day, observed on 1 May, honours the labour movement and the struggle for workers' rights, above all the eight-hour working day. In most of continental Europe it is a public holiday under names such as Labour Day, Festa dei Lavoratori, Tag der Arbeit or Fête du Travail. Trade unions and left-wing parties traditionally organise marches, rallies and speeches, and in some countries the day also has a long history as a demonstration of political strength. In Spain, Portugal and Greece, the day is similarly a holiday with union marches.
May Day has older roots too, in the spring festivals of northern and central Europe, with maypoles, dancing and the arrival of the warmer season. The two traditions live side by side in places such as Finland, where Vappu is both a workers' day and a lively student carnival, and in Germany, where the night before is Walpurgis Night. In Italy the day is known for a very large free concert in Rome, and in France people give each other sprigs of lily of the valley. The overlap of the two traditions means 1 May is both political and seasonal in many places.
Everywhere in United Kingdom.
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Questions
A public holiday across United Kingdom: most employees have the day off.
Monday, 6 May 2024.