MAY DAY in Belfast likely goes as far back as the late 1800s. It is a well-established working-class tradition that has withstood the all the trials and tribulations that have been thrown at working-class people and their families for over 100 years.

We expect this year again to see upwards of 4,000 people descending on the city centre on May 2.

Its survival is all the more significant when you consider that May Day continued unabated throughout the Troubles with trade union and community activists coming together for what was the only cross-community march of its kind to take place in Ireland.  

Arguably it became an annual expression of anti-sectarianism and a desire for unity in face of attacks on working-class communities by government, employers and those willing to use the sectarian card to divide workers.  

May Day is a manifestation of the a radical tradition which has always endured in Belfast, and beyond, despite what other machinations of class division were on the horizon.  

From the United Irishmen to the unifying workers’ struggles of the 1907 Dock Strike, the Outdoor Relief campaign of the ’30s, and the Water Charges Coalition, Belfast’s progressive currents have always managed to push through in the darkest of times.

In 2021 co-ordinated action by NIC ICTU trade unions saw 170,000 workers take strike action on the same day.

Today we must learn from that radical current as we try to build a broad-based progressive resistance to all forms of division. In the face of a drive for war and genocide on international scene and cruel and unending austerity at home, trade unions have again become central to the defence of working people, and with it May Day is a chance to express both union renewal and workers’ unity.

2026 marks the third annual Belfast May Day Festival — a joint project between the Belfast & District Trades Union Council, the Community Arts Partnership and the ICTU.  

Through “Music, Arts and Solidarity” the festival is aiming to broaden the appeal of May Day beyond the usual trade union orbit seeking ways to engage migrant workers, asylum-seekers, families and young people.

With the aid of the energetic and creative Community Arts Partnership we are delivering community outreach with diverse groups of young people from across the city who are learning about trade unions through art and who the join the rally to highlight their creations. May Day is now a two-week programme which showcases community arts, progressive campaigns and community initiatives.

This year we have 20-plus events including community chess, live music and poetry, walking tours, protest song karaoke, as well as debates on imperialism and extending workers’ rights.

The centrepiece of this remains the march and rally which is morphing into a day-long carnival in the Cathedral Quarter, once upon a time a run-down haven for all manner of arts, community and political groups. Most of these groups are being pushed out for boutique hotels and expensive pints of Guinness, but with the aid of the Oh Yeah Music Centre and The Black Box (both community initiatives themselves) we are reclaiming the space. 

There will be friendly activities with arts and crafts workshops, games, badge-making, face-painting and youth open mic. This is complemented with a community market with solidarity arts and crafts, affordable food and live music.  

All of this is work is done in partnership with existing campaigns and community organisations with the simple aim of tying together the threads of progressivism and alternative ideas which already exist across the city bubbling away day and daily. We may live in dark times, but May Day and the workers’ and labour movement in its broadest sense brings hope and can demonstrate that a better world is not only possible but there are already people building it.

Viva May Day!

Kerry Fleck is vice-president of Belfast and District Trades Union Council.