BH diaspora all around the world celebrated the International Workers’ Day in different ways, but most of them are working just like every other day. Most countries already celebrated this day on another date.
Citizens of Qatar celebrated the International Workers’ Day on April 27, with grill and music on the pools. According to Mirza Dervisevic from Brcko, who lives in Doha, it is a working day in Qatar.
Although the roots of this holiday are coming from the US, the International Workers’ Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September, and not on May 1. According to Akif Cogo from St. Louis, this holiday is not marked as much as it is in BiH.
“A lot of citizens are free that day, but not all of them because the US never stops, so they usually use this time for family gatherings, traveling, etc. Even though the roots of this holiday are in the US, it simply does not have some importance because it is not marked on the same day as in the rest of the world,” stated Cogo.
Therefore, our diaspora in the United States does not organize some special gatherings on May 1, but it is a working day for them as it is to everyone else.
When it comes to Sweden, much more attention is paid to April 30, when the Valborg is marked. It is a special celebration of fertility, during which people sing and drink whole night and light up fires, and this tradition is taken over by the Germans. Also, this holiday is celebrated in Finland, Germany, Estonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, etc.
“When it comes to our diaspora, the celebration of the International Workers’ Day is reduced to individual barbecues or some kinds of gatherings organized by Bosnian associations. On the other hand, the tradition of the Swedes on May 1 is that trade unions invite workers to go out on the streets and remind everyone on rights of the workers,” said Amir Omerovic from Sarajevo, who lives and works in Linkoping.
(Source: M. N./Klix.ba)
