Island Life Magazine Ltd April / May 2016 | Page 54

FEATURE

The

Merry Month
of May

I

t’s a strange little Bank Holiday
Monday that pops up each year
between Easter and Whitsuntide and
takes many of us by surprise. In fact
many people seem unsure why they get a
day off for May Day at all.
In fact, this ancient festival day - which
the Celts knew as Beltane - was only
declared a national Bank Holiday in the
UK as recently as 1978. But instead of
making May 1st the national holiday
as it is in many other countries, the
Government decided to instigate the

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