Bank Holidays 2018: When is the May Bank Holiday? Full list of Bank Holidays

Bank holidays are public holidays granted to the population in the UK, Hong Kong, Ireland and some Commonwealth countries.

The name rises from banks closing their doors for the day, resulting in others have the time off too.

The tradition has been going since Liberal MP Sir John Lubbock introduced the Bank Holidays Act 1871 to ease the pressure on the employed population.

Under the Act, no persons could be made to make a payment or complete work of any nature that they would not have to do on Christmas Day or Good Friday.

At that point there were only four bank holidays in total being Easter Monday, Whit Monday, the first Monday in August and Boxing Day.

Now there are a total of eight across the year in the UK.

When is the May Bank Holiday?

The next bank holiday is the Early May bank holiday, taking place this year on Monday May 7.

May Day is a holiday usually celebrated on May 1 and is thought to originate from Roman festivities.

But in the UK May 1 is not a public holiday unless it falls on a Monday.

Otherwise the bank holiday takes place on the first Monday of the month.

Popular events held to mark May Day including maypole dancing in which children dance around a tall pole holding suspended ribbons.

Other traditions include Morris dancing and floral decorations.

In recent years the date has become synonymous with large marches to recognise and call for better workers’ rights.

In the UK, this means May is also referred to as International Workers’ Day or Labour Day.

When are the 2018 bank holidays?

The remaining bank holidays for England and Wales are:

Monday May 7 (Early May bank holiday)

Monday May 28 (Spring bank holiday)

Monday August 27 (Summer bank holiday)

Tuesday December 25 (Christmas Day)

Wednesday December 26 (Boxing Day)

Scotland and Northern Ireland share many of the same bank holidays but there are some differences.

To see the full list, visit the government’s website here.