May Day (1st of May) in Sweden follows the Walpurgis Eve with a wide choice of events, marches and demonstrations taking place across the country to celebrate the working class’ rights.
The 1st of May is a public holiday in Sweden, and many Swedes spend the day either attending the celebrations of political parties and trade unions, or simply enjoying a picnic outdoors with friends and family, weather permitting.
It was my first time yesterday to join the May Day demonstration in Stockholm, and it is quite amazing.
I come from Egypt where I’m used to see the police firing tear gas and arresting dozens to break up the protests. But yesterday the show was different as the celebration is an important cultural experience for most of Swedish people.
For me it looked so pretty like a parade. People gathered at Medborgarplatsen and then everyone walked from there to Kungsträdgården by way of Slussen.
There were probably thousands of people, and you can hear different languages coming out from the demonstration. Of course there were plenty of signs in Swedish. But there were also some signs in English, in Persian and Arabic.
Along with being one of the largest demonstration, it was the loudest. That’s because there were several bands. Hahaha, in fact. many of them were playing at the same time.
In the end it was an exhausting Första Maj, but a fun day and great experience indeed, plus it was a sunny day 🙂
Jasmine Elnadeem 