Maifest

Monday marked the first day of May. In Germany, it was also Labor Day and a holiday. That means that nothing is open (besides some bakeries), just like on Sundays. I'm not going to lie. Knowing that I don't have access to the grocery store for two whole days kind of stresses me out. I need my food. Anyway, I survived. However, Ben and I did do some crazy grocery shopping on Tuesday.

But we did get some good food on Monday.

As you can see~ very smiley faces

There was a Maifest gathering near our apartment on Monday. It kind of reminded me of our small town celebrations like Onamia Days, Isle Days, Wahkon Days, etc. Lots of families come with their children, grab some burgers and brats from the food stands and of course, drink beer. However, the most important activity was: putting up the Maibaum (a.k.a. Maypole). Let me tell you, this was quite the ordeal.

The guy in the blue jacket was the MC.
And some conservative politicians stopped
by to say a few words.

I wanted to add some videos that I took of the Maibaum, but I can't seem to upload them. There were two ceremonies--one at the start of the festival and one that lasted the remainder of the festival. The picture below is from the first ceremony. This Maibaum was much smaller than the second one.

I always pictured Maypoles as tall poles with long streamers hanging down from the top, but these were actual trees decorated with short colorful streamers. There was a committee that was formed (this one had only men) that was created for the sole purpose of putting up the Maibaum. Ben said that the group was formed so that they could be insured... I suppose it makes sense :-D The Maibaum committee members each wore a pointed grey felt hat; stylish but don't do too much for protection against falling trees.

There were nineteen men carrying the Maibaum and the whole thing took about two and a half hours. I think putting up the tree was physically straining, but I think that it took that long was more because of the all the beer breaks the committee took during the event. :-P

But no worries. There was plenty of beer for the observers to buy, plus coffee and cake for sale. It was definitely an exciting event to witness, and kept me on the edge of my seat. Happy May everyone!