MAY DAY BASKET COMPETITION

Downtown Port Orchard

April 28, 2023 – May 1, 2023

As you wander in downtown Port Orchard from April 28 until May 1 view all of the beautiful May Day Baskets hanging from the merchants’ doors or sitting near their windows.  Judges will be awarding ribbons on April 30 in various categories, but the People’s Choice Award will be tabulated on May 1st. So see the baskets and then vote for your favorite at the Port Orchard Market on Bay Street!

According to a report by NPR, May Day Baskets were a tradition much practiced until the 1960s.  People would begin gathering flowers and candies and other goodies to put in May baskets to hang on the doors of friends, neighbors and loved ones on May 1.  When times were more innocent.

So don’t miss this event, come rain or shine, to see Port Orchard in all of its spring glory. Regardless of whether they capture a ribbon, all of the baskets will be winners, and when you take the time to walk downtown Port Orchard and take in the beauty of May Day, you’ll be the lucky grand prize winner!

Photos from the 2019 May Day Basket Competition and from the Annapolis, Maryland Annual May Day Basket event (begun in 1956!)