Port Coquitlam kids and teens submit your artwork showing why you love your city to help kickstart this year’s 98^th annual May Days activities and brighten up their community.

Similar to last year’s successful “We Are All in This Together” campaign, the City is once again seeking artwork from residents up to age 18 to display online as well as on signs in public spaces and the two digital billboards on Lougheed Highway and the Mary Hill Bypass. This time, the theme is “I Love PoCo” and the signs will also be part of a month-long scavenger hunt with prizes kicking off during May Days.

Submit your artwork by April 28 and get all the details here. You artwork may be selected for the printed signs and billboards, and all submissions will be displayed online. Use bold and bright hues in keeping with the 2021 May Days “Bring on the Colour” theme celebrating the Spring season, community spirit and diversity.

Visit portcoquitlam.ca/artwork for submission requirements and to upload artwork.

Residents are also encouraged to post positive artwork on their own social media accounts at any time, using the hashtag #ilovepoco and tagging the City on Twitter or Instagram @cityofpoco or on Facebook @portcoquitlam. The materials from last year’s signs in public spaces will be repurposed for this year’s campaign.

Celebrate May Days in your households by decorating your windows with spring flowers and the May Days logo (available to colour, print or in May 6 issue of the Tri-City News),

Children and youth are invited to celebrate May Days with free art workshops at the Outlet in Leigh Square.

May Days Mug Making (ages 12-20) FREE
Create your own beautiful hand-made, glazed and fired ceramic mug in time for May Days (two-part workshop)!
Saturday: May 11
10 am -12 pm – register here
1:30-3:30 pm – register here

Mother’s Day Card Making Workshop (ages 7-15) FREE
Make a beautiful and unique Mother’s Day card for your mom in this one-hour card-making workshop—a May Days Festival tradition!
Monday, May 3: 6-7 pm – register here
Wednesday, May 5: 6-7 pm – register here
Friday, May 7: 6-7 pm – register here

Virtual Mother’s Day Card Making Workshop (all ages)
Join a free on-line workshop to make a beautiful Mother’s Day card.
Saturday, May 8: 10:30-11:30am – register here

A scavenger hunt in downtown Port Coquitlam is being held in collaboration with the Port Coquitlam Business Improvement Association.

Until the end of May, residents can download an entry form at downtownpocobia.com then look for May Day flowers in the windows of downtown businesses for a chance to win a Nintendo Switch and prizes from local businesses in the area.

Hanging Baskets

To help beautify Port Coquitlam, the City is making free hanging basket kits available to the first 200 Port Coquitlam people that attend the opening of the Farmers Market in Leigh Square on May 6 (one basket per household).

Starting at 6 pm on Saturday May 8, residents are invited to safely cheer on City Council, staff and the May Days Royal Party as they make their way through the community in vehicles of all types, including garbage trucks, fire trucks and decorated cars. A great success last year, the drive-through cheer celebrates May Days – one of the City’s signature events – and thanks essential workers and the community for doing their part during the pandemic. We ask residents to please watch from your own homes, follow all COVID-19 health protocols and avoid large gatherings. Thank you!

See map below or download.

On May 8 we will be launching the I Love PoCo scavenger hunt.

For the rest of May, find five signs featuring local children’s art in local parks and public spaces with an I Love PoCo sticker on the back, for a chance to win one of five $50 gift cards to a Port Coquitlam business of your choice. To enter, take photos with all five signs and add them to a single post on social media using #ilovepoco #portcoquitlam and either tagging or naming the Port Coquitlam business you would like to support with a gift card.

Support our local restaurants and pubs by ordering food to eat at home with May Days Special.

Here’s a list of local businesses to choose from:

Strawberries & Sunshine Healing Centre community supporter has provided templates for family acitivities and a couple of delicious recipes to share.

Recipes:

• Blueberry Almond Energy Bites
• Coconut Lemon Bliss

Activities

• Sidewalk Sensory Walk
• Stuck in the Mud

Thank you to the Community groups that participate in May Days in Port Coquitlam! We appreciate you!

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

This year’s online celebration is the latest proactive action Port Coquitlam has taken to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and to support the community at this challenging time.