Labour Day and Lily of the Valley
1 May 2026 — Ding-a-ling! A little luck for you – take a starry bell!
On 1 May France celebrates the Fête du Travail (Labour Day), an official public holiday. It grew out of the labour movement of the late 19th century, when 1 May became a day for demanding an eight-hour working day. In 1947 it became a statutory paid day off in France, and it remains the only public holiday on which work is, as a rule, stopped and paid. Its other tradition is much older: on 1 May the French give each other sprigs of lily of the valley (muguet) for good luck. According to tradition, King Charles IX was offered a sprig in 1561 and decided to give one every year to the ladies of his court. By tradition, on this day private individuals are allowed to sell lily of the valley on the street without a permit, although local rules impose some restrictions. The date is fixed and does not follow a lunar calendar. Roughly, 1 May falls about midway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, when spring is in full bloom and the nights are growing shorter.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure of a lily of the valley sprig made of luminous dots and fine connecting lines, like a constellation drifting across the sky
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