Calling all Port Coquitlam students in Grades 1, 2, 4 and 5. Represent your City as a May Day Royal Party member!

All positions are selected by a random draw for each school.

Application Deadline: February 1, 2019 @ 4PM

Applications are being accepted for:

• Flower Girls – Grades 1 to 2
• Princesses and Lancers (male dancers) – Grades 4 to 5

Duties will include participating in:

• Hip hop dance practices:
  • Flower Girls, Wednesdays 4 to 4:40 pm
  • Princesses & Lancers, Wednesdays 4:40 to 5:30 pm

Starting Wednesday Feb. 6 at Port Coquitlam Rec Complex (except during Spring Break)

• May Day Selection Tea – The evening of Monday, April 15
• Opening Ceremony Dress Rehearsal Friday, May 3 from 12 – 2 pm
• May Day Banquet and Opening Ceremony – Friday May 3 in the evening
• May Day Parade with the City float, followed by May Day Luncheon – May 11, 10:30 am-1 pm

Fill out the form below or download the application here.

The Rotary May Day Parade, starts at 11am at Atkins Rd. & moves northbound along Shaughnessy St. to Elgin Ave., eastbound on Elgin Ave. to Mary Hill Rd. & southbound on Mary Hill Rd. to Hawthorne Ave., then eastbound on Hawthorne Ave., with the dispersal being on Tyner St. 

Please note: Downtown PoCo will be packed with participants & spectators enjoying all the family friendly activities, therefore the following roads will be closed: 

• Leigh Square Place east of Shaughnessy St. from 7 am May 10 – 7 pm May 11. 
• May 10 afternoon access to Leigh Square parking lots will be limited due to tent installations & set ups. Including the City Hall lot & the large parking lot between Wilson Ave. & the Elks Hall. Some parking lots will stay closed until Noon Sun May 12. Street parking will be available before & after the parade.
• Donald St. & the laneway behind Dairy Queen will be closed from 7 am- 7 pm Sat May 11.
• Shaughnessy (Pitt River to Atkins) Rindall, Central , Hawthorne, Welcher & Tyner Aves. will be closed for parade assembly & dispersal 9am -1pm with no on street parking 7 am – 1 pm, Sat May 11.
• Shaughnessy St. from Wilson Ave. to the Shaughnessy St. Underpass, Elgin Ave. & Mary Hill Rd. & Hawthorne to Tyner will be closed during the parade 10am – 1:30pm Sat May 11.

The Coast Meridian Overpass & Maple Ave. are OPEN for traffic detouring as usual. 

The month of May is believed to have been named for the Roman goddess of spring and growth, Maia. The month of May heralds the awakening and flourishing of nature and the coming of spring. In the City of Port Coquitlam, this month marks the celebration of May Day.

In ancient times, May was a time for outdoor celebrations. In Rome, it was a time that was sacred to Flora, the goddess of flowers. The Romans celebrated May Day with flower-decked parades. In England, the village youth went to the woods to gather spring flowers and hawthorne branches, returning singing and dancing. The flowering boughs they gathered were used to decorate the May tree. As the white flowered hawthorne tree became the tree most often decorated, it came to be called the May tree. In more recent celebrations, the May pole, symbolic of the May tree it has replaced, has been decorated with colourful ribbons.

The City of Port Coquitlam first introduced the celebration of May in 1916 when the principal of James Park School, Mrs. Enid Cox, arranged a small celebration for her pupils. The first official community May Day was held in 1923, when James Park and Central schools combined their efforts. It was in 1923 that Miss Evelyn Mars was crowned as Port Coquitlam’s first official May Queen.

In today’s Port Coquitlam May Day celebration, a May Queen and an Ambassador, along with the Royal Party, preside over the festivities, which include a parade, music, entertainment and dancing around maypoles.