The first of May – A festival of fertility

In Greece, May Day is also dedicated to the workers’ movement and is an official holiday. It is a public holiday. Labor Day is celebrated and protests and rallies, especially from left-wing parties, usually take place in Agios and Evdylos.

But for the Greeks, May 1st has an even deeper meaning. It celebrates the final victory of light and spring over the dark winter. Life awakens to new fertility.

Every first of May, tradition has it, people in Ikaria go to the coastal regions with children and all to “catch” the May God. Wreaths of fresh spring flowers are wreathed in his honor. The houses are decorated with it and in the past fresh flowers were tied to the halters of the donkeys, today they are tied to the mirrors of cars and motorcycles. This brings luck and good luck and also protects against the evil eye!

We are also invited to a barbecue with friends. I had prepared a large bowl of bean salad to bring with me in the morning. When we arrive in Kato Raches around 3:00 p.m., a few families are already there and the first meat on the grill is almost cooked. It smells wonderful!

“Kalo mina!” (a good month) is what we wish each other. As soon as we sit down, we receive plates of salads and various appetizers (called mezes) and glasses of the finest Ikaria wine. The meat, two whole lambs, and the wine are donated by the hosts every year, and salads and mezedes are brought by the guests.

We sit down at the long table with the others in the shade of the olive trees, hidden high up in the ancient terraces with a view of the endless blue shimmer of the Aegean Sea.

Magic is in the air

The Icariotes used to honor this day with more than just flowers. They symbolically cut a branch from everything that was fruitful, from the vine, the olive, almond or fig tree, a few ears of grain, etc., in order to weave a fertility wreath with the fresh flowers. This was intended to bring fertility blessings into the home and ensure the blessing of children and animals, as well as a good harvest.

The wreath was made before the first May sun rose, because the May sun, like the March sun, is said to have not only good but also magical properties: it burns you easily because your skin is not yet used to the sun. The May God is also known as two-faced, meaning he has two faces and can be good and evil at the same time.

Love is in the air

Each family has a small stone house on the coast, which used to offer the shepherds protection from the weather and cold, a bed, a table, a fireplace, and that’s it. There, on May 1st, outdoor barbecues are held on the mountain families’ winter pastures near the coast.

People gather with family and friends for a cheerful barbecue with wine and dancing. The women jokingly ask each other whether they have touched the “Maywood” (epiases to maióksilo?), an allusion to the May God’s best piece, which is of course supposed to maintain the desire and thus the joy of life and ensure the abundance of children. How nice! When this complex topic is simply brought up at the table as a matter of course! Of course there is a lot of joking and teasing. That’s part of it.

The children stream out into the terraces and vineyards and collect flowers. Beautiful wreaths are woven from them. The wreaths hang on the front doors until June 24th, the Feast of St. John, where they are now dried flowers and burned in the large solstice bonfires at the Feast of St. John. Everyone can then jump over the fire three times and make a wish!

The delicious wine sets the mood. A fairly loud car radio provides a clanging acoustic background and of course there is lots of joking, laughing and dancing! Even the children join in.

Even after more than 30 years, I am still amazed at how far the icariotic hospitality goes! At least 50 people, not including children, were fed by the hosts, two brothers, throughout the day. Meat and wine to the hilt every year, not to mention the days of preparation. One of the two brothers, the grill master, is constantly at the grill from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and the food is served endlessly. “It is my pleasure to entertain my friends extensively once a year, so that everyone goes home full and happy.” he says and raises his glass to everyone’s health!

May celebration in Mavriannou

For everyone who is not lucky enough to be invited somewhere private, there is a big, wonderful May festival in the Mavriannou monastery. It’s grilled. You can buy food and wine and have a picnic on the stone tables outside in front of the old monks’ cells. Many people use this day for a special kind of excursion and it is best to go early to find a place.

May celebration in Nas

The taverns in Nas are a popular destination on May Day. Most people have organized live music especially for this day and people celebrate and dance from midday onwards.