Entre nous: French May 1st Traditions • FRANCE 24 English

today is May 1st it’s a national holiday in France and in many other nations we’re going to take a moment now in our segment ENT or between us to take a closer look into what that holiday means to the French that’s with Solange mu mu who joins me on the set hi Solange hi jie May 1 has become a mixture of a number of traditions here in France but first and foremost it is Labor Day yeah it is indeed the 1 of May is called LA or here in France uh or workers’s day in uh um in French and unlike other Fier or holidays uh or national holidays many people in France refer to this day as both F and Shi this is because French law since 1947 stipulates that the day is show me or not worked it’s actually the only holiday where this rule exists where a case in point that uh there are exceptions uh of course but you if you do work like we are on May 1st you are actually paid double woohoo yay uh this law has to do with the spirit of the day to pay tribute to workers rights and to stand up in support of other causes as well now last year for example uh the French French unions joined uh forces against mol’s pension reforms and between 800,000 and over two million people came out on May 1st now this year the figures will obviously be lower smaller than that but it is a tradition that’s been going strong for over 130 years May 1st 1945 for four years it was Philip P’s saint day vishi managed to Commander Labor day but Paris is now liberated it has returned to its working class [Music] [Applause] roots today is focused on International Labor Day there’s a lot of symbolism to be here Al together in this context Texas now the origin story of international Labor Day it actually dates back to to the 1880s and the 8h Hour Work Week movement in 1886 workers protested for Humane uh working conditions and hours and they were their protests were violently suppressed outrage soon spread from Chicago to the rest of the US and across the world now interestingly enough the US actually does not celebrate International Labor Day uh historians say this actually has to do with a long history of suppressing working class unity and a also a desire to step to sort of step away from some Marxist and communist undertones that existed and exists still for some people on Labor Day instead uh in the US Labor Day it is celebrated in September right but here in France it is May 1st and the far-right party the national front which is now known as the national rally has a real history of making that day a big day of gathering for them yeah starting in 1988 uh the then leader of the party Jean malan Jean Marie Lupen he uh uh would Gather in front of the Statue of Jean near the Lou in Paris and he would use the saint and also the holiday to gain attention in 2015 uh the far rights Gathering was also the scene of the family divisions that were happening with his daughter marine John help me now since 2016 under the Helm of Malin leupen the national rally has has actually taken a step back from this Jonah bark tradition it is thought this is part of an attempt to uh distance her party from the EXT its extremist and racist history now so May 1 is not just Labor Day here in France it’s also for many people a celebration of spring coming finally and the French have a long tradition of offering flowers on Mayday yeah and actually traditionally it is not a lies of the valley but traditionally it’s actually sweet Brier roses or tinou that were worn as butiner uh as a tribute to the Lost blood and the lost lives of workers on Labor Day but during World War II under the V Rime it was swapped out for the more pristine lily of the valley which uh was already actually popular among fashion houses because it is so elegant and it smells so good and that actually caught on especially since the legend goes that this flower lug already had a courtly Prestige since Charles I 9th was so enamored by a bouquet that he was given on May 1st 1560 that he made it a tradition one that coincides with the Celtic May Day or spring festivities today there is a law actually that stipulates that any french citizen anyone actually can sell lies of the valley on May 1st as long as you’re a certain number of meters away from a florist so in France you’ll see lots of uh citizens lots of people uh everyday people making exactly making a little extra cash over 25 million EUR are spent on these flowers every year and some 60 million are sold so nearly one for every uh uh French Citizen and for the tradition says that it brings good luck it does I love that it’s kind of like the French version of the lemonade stand exactly so lch thank you so much for taking that closer look at May 1st and all of the Traditions that go around it here in France

From workers’ rights, to political protests, to buying (and selling) lilies of the valley, we dive into France’s May 1st traditions. We discuss the orgigins of International Labor Day and how lilies of the valley became the flower to give loved ones on this holiday.
#France #May1st #tradition

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