"In ancient Roman religion, the Floralia was a festival in honor of the goddess Flora, held April 27 during the Republican era, or April 28 on the Julian calendar. In Latin, the festival was known as the Ludi Florae, the Games (ludi) of Flora. Under the Empire, the games lasted for six days"







(Wikipedia, das Foto zum Thema "May Queen" mit einem Kind auf dem Thron ist echt interessant. By the way: Der Zugang zu Wikipedia wurde in der Türkei gesperrt?
Ein Zitat der ZEIT online. An meinem Bildschirm: "vor 9 Stunden - In der Türkei ist die Website von Wikipedia nicht mehr erreichbar. Die Regierung wirft den Betreibern Terrorpropaganda vor."






http://www.mythinglinks.org/Beltane.html - The Merrie May: The History of Beltane, May Day, and Everything in Between. It looks at May Day as a combination of ancient Roman sexual festivals as well as Celtic fertility festivals. Here's an excerpt:
...With the Roman invasions of Western Europe and Britain, much of the symbolism and rites of the Floralia and Beltane became entwined -- eventually becoming the holiday we now call May Day or Walpurgis. The custom of going 'a-maying', collecting flowers, greenery and the maypole early on the morning of May 1, survives virtually intact to this day, as do the balefires in Britain, Germany and other countries of Europe. The sexual aspect of the holiday, however, has become almost extinct in many countries. The festivities were viewed as sinful by some Christian leaders, and in 1644 the celebration was banned by the Puritan-controlled Parliament in Britain....