May Day in North Korea

by Iva Skoch on

Czech travel agencies seem to have a new hit on their hands: celebration of May Day in Pyongyang, North Korea. Perhaps the last country on the planet where pompous celebrations of the communist regime are still going strong, North Korea is the hip place to go.

Apparently there are enough people either A) nostalgic enough for the spectacle of communist kitsch which seized in the Czech Republic only 17 years ago, B) bored with the usual vacation in the Greek isles.

For only about $1800, you get 7 nights, flights from Prague to Peking, ground transportation, a guide, and all the saluting you can handle. This agency provides special tours for US citizens who are more likely to have problems traveling to North Korea.

And, please, leave that Che shirt at home. North Korea ain’t Disneyworld.

Ancient Viking Festival Recreated for May Day on Isle of Man

by Karen Walrond on

BBC.com is reporting that a battle between the Queen of Winter and the
Queen of Summer is to be the highlight of the May Day celebration on the Isle of Man.  The fight is apparently
based on an old Norse custom.

The festival, called "Laa Boaldyn," apparently has its origins in the
Celtic calendar.  However, "the battle itself is actually a Norse custom which was absorbed into the
traditional May Day celebrations of the Manx people," said Nicola Tooms, Assistant Curator for Manx National
Heritage.

Sounds pretty interesting.  If we were still living in England, I might have nagged my
English husband to go take in the celebrations — however, he tells me that it always rains on May Day in England, so
it might have been a hard sell.