While I had vaguely heard of the Maypole dance over the years, the first one I experienced in person involved schoolchildren in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. My son had enrolled as a fifth grader in ...

I wish I had danced around a Maypole with my mother. I’m not sure why it didn’t happen at least once in her 101 years. At the very least, I wish I had told her I wanted to. “Mom let’s celebrate my ...

In a nod to the past — the very old past — the village of Orland Park hosted a May Day celebration Saturday. The spring celebration can be traced back to Roman times, but the village’s historical ...

TRADITIONALLY, on May 1 communities perform a maypole dance, around a tall pole hung with ribbons that are woven into patterns by the dancers. Such dances are survivals of ancient dances around a tree ...

Stephanie Block picks out flowers for a crown during La Primavera Festival, a spring celebration at Marjorie Park on Saturday, April 25, 2026. The festival included flower crowns, a maypole dance, and ...

Fourth-graders at Mary E. Dardess Elementary School perform the annual Maypole dance during the Arbor Day celebration Friday. The dance has been taking place at the school since sometime in the 1980s.