UPDATE #1 

May Day is just around the corner! We’ve added a number of events to the “Calendar” page… M1C is involved in organizing or promoting a number of anti-capitalist themed events leading up to May Day in Hamilton. READ MORE

Hamilton May Day Parade & Block Party 2012 

A callout for people to join us in the streets of Hamilton on May 1st for a roaming dance party, followed by a block party with free barbeque and musical performances. Meet us at 2pm in Beasley Park.

The Spiel

            May 1^st is right around the corner, and for many of us in the city this is the most important holiday of the year. Whether you trace May Day’s history back to the pagan festival of wild rebirth, or to the 1886 Haymarket Affair in which workers and anarchists fought and died for the 8-hour work day, this is a day to get together and celebrate the possibility of change; to shake off the winter chill and get ready for a summer of untameable, collective resistance.

            May Day celebrations in the past have taken the form of general strikes (everyone take the day off!), mass rallies, street festivals and direct actions. Over the past several years May Day has seen a resurgence in Hamilton, and we’re looking to keep that momentum going. This city’s strong history of labour struggle, combined with a swelling atmosphere of creative resistance makes Hamilton an ideal place to stand up and throw down! People will be coming in from cities across Southern Ontario to participate, so start making plans now to take the day off work and join us in the streets.

            We are calling ourselves the M1 Committee, and we are busily working right now on ways to make this the rowdiest May Day in Hamilton’s history. We hope to animate the anti-colonial, anti-capitalist and anti-oppressive spirit of May Day, and to let people know that there are tangible alternatives to this broken wreckage of a system. If this sounds like the sort of May Day you want to be a part of, keep reading…

The Event

            Join us on May 1^st @ 2pm in Beasley Park for Hamilton’s first ever May Day Parade. We’re going to kick off the afternoon with a roaming dance party through the downtown core in order to reclaim the streets from the monotonous, capitalist grind. Led by the sweet sounds of the Hammersauce Noise Brigade, we will dance our way through the streets of Hamilton to remind this city that a system based on money and land-deeds isn’t nearly as funky as the world we envision. We want this to be a festive, anti-capitalist tour of the city, with lots of room for creative actions and expressions along the way. If there are any specific sites/businesses/buildings that you would like us to visit during the march, let us know and we can hopefully work them into the route. We encourage people to be imaginative: how can we creatively transform and occupy the spaces that normally serve to keep us down?

            After busting our moves in the streets, we will bring the Parade back to Beasley Park where a Block Party will be in full swing, complete with a free barbecue, musical performances, circus activities and games. This is going to be a fun, family-friendly afternoon in the sun, so bring your appetite and leave your wallet at home!

            Childcare will be available in Beasley Park from 2pm – 7pm. We’ll have lots of games, sidewalk chalk, sunscreen, snacks and water!

            If you are interested in plugging into the organizing in anyway, whether it be requesting a stop on the parade, helping out with the block party, joining the Noise Brigade, or hosting an event in the days leading up to May Day, send as an email at: steelcitym1c@gmail.com.You can keep up to date with the May Day schedule online at: http://m1committee.tumblr.com.

            In solidarity,

                                -M1

April 9^th, 2012

Hamilton, Occupied Turtle Island

“On May Day we celebrate, because a people who welcome Spring will never know of kings.” – The Witch’s Child