May Day (May 1st ):
England: Traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a Maypole. It also marks the beginning of Spring.
France: On May 1st, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom on the 1st of May, to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime.
Ireland: A traditional May Day has been celebrated in Ireland since pagan times as the feast of Bealtaine and in latter times as Mary's day, bonfires are lit to mark the coming of summer and to banish the long nights of winter.
India: In India, ‘May Day’ is commemorated as ‘Labour Day’. The ‘Labour Day’ begins with the United States labour movement in 19th century. The labour movement was started on May 1, 1886 in United States. Some labour organizations in the country called on strike because they wanted 8-hour working days including incidents such as the carnage in Haymarket Square in Chicago on May 4th which resulted in killing of at least 12 laborers who were killed on the excuse that a rebel threw a bomb into that area.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day
Rogation Sunday(May 2nd): in the calendar of the Western Church, four days traditionally set apart for solemn processions to invoke God's mercy. They are April 25, the Major Rogation, coinciding with St. Mark's Day (but having no connection with it); and the three days preceding Ascension Day, the Minor Rogations.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogation_days
Lag B’Omer (May 2nd ): Tradition – Jewish. also known as Lag LaOmer amongst Sephardi Jews, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the thirty-third day of the counting of the Omer which is on the 18th of Iyar.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lag_BaOmer
Ascension Day (May 13th): The Christian doctrine of the Ascension holds that Jesus ascended to heaven in the presence of his Eleven Apostles following his resurrection, and that in heaven he sits at the right hand of God the Father.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_of_Jesus
Shavuot (May 19th , 20th ): Tradition – Jewish. is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June). Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God revealed the Pentateuch, or first 5 books of the Torah (which includes the Ten Commandments) to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai, although the association between the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah) and Shavuot is not explicit in the Biblical text. The holiday is one of the shalosh regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavuot
Pentecost(May 23rd ): is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ. The feast is also called Whitsun, Whitsunday, Whit Sunday, or Whitsuntide, especially in the United Kingdom. Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks (50 days) after Easter Sunday, hence its name. Pentecost falls on the tenth day after Ascension Thursday.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost
Visakha Pooja (May 27th): Tradition – Buddhism. is an annual holiday observed traditionally by practicing Buddhists in South Asian and South East Asian countries like Nepal, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India. Sometimes informally called "Buddha's Birthday," it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment (Nirvana), and passing away (Parinirvana) of Gautama Buddha. The exact date of Vesākha varies according to the various lunar calendars used in different traditions. In Theravada countries following the Buddhist calendar, it falls on the full moon Uposatha day (typically the 5th or 6th lunar month). Vesākha Day in China is on the eighth of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. The date varies from year to year in the Western Gregorian calendar but falls in April or May.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ves%C4%81kha
Trinity Sunday(May 29th): is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Sunday
