MAY DAY CELEBRATION TO BE HELD ON MAY 1

Bryn Mawr College will host its annual May Day activities, a campus tradition since 1900, on Sunday, May 1, from dawn until late evening. Many of the day's events, including Maypole dancing, hoop race, concerts, plays and colorful Renaissance pageantry, are free and open to the public.

The celebration begins at 5:45 a.m., when sophomores awaken seniors with flower baskets and song. Historically, the College president's mode of transport for May Day was a cart pulled by white oxen. Over the years, oxen have given way to horses, then to tractors and motorcycles. A mix of old and new traditions, the day includes a Hoop Race that predicts who will be the first to earn her doctorate. In addition to the traditional Maypole event, students in the mid-1980s added a distinctly feminist May Hole Dance, celebrating women's liberation through the symbolic releasing of thousands of flower petals into the air.

This daylong re-enactment of the Elizabethan rite of spring ends with the screening of The Philadelphia Story, starring Bryn Mawr's most famous graduate, Katharine Hepburn '28. The next morning, final exams begin.

Highlights of the day include:

• 9:30 a.m.: Procession — Rockefeller to Merion Green
• 10 a.m.: Maypole Dance — Merion Green
• 10:30 a.m.: Senior Hoop Race — Merion Green
• 11 a.m.: May Hole Dance — Denbigh Green
• 2 p.m.: Contemporary Pop Concert — Merion green
• 8 p.m.: Step Sing — Taylor Hall

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