Everything you need to know about May bank holidays
Easter has barely ended, yet many people feel they could have used a bit more time on vacation. Here is a list of the future bank holidays that come in May, so that you can already start planning your next getaway.
The nearest future bank holiday is Monday, May 1, also known as May Day, which is a bank holiday because it was originally a celebration of the first day of summer in northern hemisphere, back in the Roman times. It is typically celebrated with dances, singing and feasts.
Spring Bank holiday quickly joins on Monday, May 29. Pentecost, a Christian festival that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples of Jesus after his death, can sometimes fall in May.
Nevertheless, if it falls in June (such as this year, when it falls on June 4), the Bank Holiday can be changed – this year it is the last Monday in May.
The Bank Holidays came into existence under the Bank Holidays Act of 1871, a work of liberal MP John Lubock, who designed it so as to ease pressure on workers.
Banks are closed on that day, and it lead to the tradition that if banks aren’t doing business, then nobody else can either.