I never understood May day until I experienced May 1st in St. Gilgen. It started off with some food stalls, drinks and music...and of corse lots of tracht (traditional clothing) to match. Then the men of the village started to put up the May Pole with pitch forks...nothing fancy, just a few hours of maneuvering and heavy lifting and the dang thing was finally standing; an absolutely amazing process to encounter. The whole time the rest of the village enjoys the music and beers. Once the May Pole is up, it is the citizens' duty to make sure that people from neighboring villages do not take it down. Everyone stays up all night to ensure this...It was the most lively night in St. Gilgen and it was great fun. We met lots of young people too...until that day, I thought they just didn't exist in this part of Austria.
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