Spring and Labour Day – 1st of May
You may have seen that the Liden & Denz language centres in Russia will be closed on Thursday to celebrate Spring and Labour Day!
International Workers’ Day is a celebration of labour and the working classes and coincides with the traditional European Spring holiday of May Day, hence why Russia celebrates both on the same day. The 1st of May is a national public holiday in more than 80 countries, celebrating workers and the arrival of spring.
This holiday, as with many others, has a lot of history in Russia. May Day was celebrated illegally until the February Revolution allowed the first legal celebration in 1917 and it became an important official holiday in the Soviet Union, with an elaborate parade in the centre of many major cities. The biggest celebrations were, of course, held in Moscow on the Red Square, where the government leaders stood on top of Lenin’s Mausoleum, waving to the crowds.
Today, The Day of Spring and Labour is still a major holiday, and you’ll be able to see parades in both Moscow and St Petersburg.
If parades aren’t really your thing, you can join the St Petersburg Liden & Denz trip to the Peter and Paul Fortress on the 1st of May – sign up at the front desk!
