May Day Solidarity Celebration

Friday, May 1, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Co-sponspored by Charlottesville DSA.

Gather at the downtown mall Freedom of Speech Wall (map), then march to Booker T. Washington Park (map).

Read more in Cville Weekly! No Kings organizers want to help Charlottesville build strength for a general strike.

Learn more and hear from some of the organizers on Blue Period Media.

Participating Organizations

Indivisible Charlottesville and Cville DSA are thrilled to share these organizations participating in this May Day event and our Strike Ready Cville efforts:

Blue Ridge Community Bail Fund

Care Bears

Central Virginia Community Support Fund

Charlottesville NOW (National Organization for Women)

Congregate Charlottesville

Grace Church Red Hill and Wonderground

Keep Going Together

The Mosaic Squad of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville

UVA Dissenters

Virginia Organizing

Visible Records

Young Democratic Socialists of America at UVA

Want to join this list of participating organizations?

We’d love to have you! Email contact@indivisiblecharlottesville.org.

Other Resources & Ways to Get Involved

• Meet fellow community members, learn, and practice new skills by attending the People’s Activist Series

• Connect with our cosponsor, Charlottesville DSA

• Learn about national May Day actions and strategies: May Day Strong

• Learn more about national Strike Ready organizing

• Explore Upcoming Indivisible Charlottesville Events

Getting Ready for May Day

We're excited to see you at Charlottesville's May Day Solidarity Celebration! To help ensure a safe, impactful, and enjoyable event for everyone, please take a few moments to review the following preparation suggestions.

Invite your friends, family, and neighbors! The more of us there are, the stronger our message will be.

Make a plan for your group: Are you traveling with others? How will you get there? Are you meeting up at the Freedom of Speech Wall for the march, or later for the celebration at the park? We strongly encourage carpooling or utilizing public transportation whenever possible to minimize our collective impact and to ease parking congestion.

The day before the event (April 30th), please:

• Check the weather: Plan to dress accordingly! Be prepared for potentially warm, wet, windy, or sunny conditions. Layers are always a good idea.

• Review our Protest Safety Page: We've compiled important information and resources about staying safe during a demonstration.

• Gather your supplies: Think about what you and your group might need for a few hours outdoors. Here are a few suggestions of things to bring:

• SIGNS! Show your solidarity and make your voice heard!

• Water: Staying hydrated is crucial, especially if the weather is warm.

• Snacks: Keep your energy up throughout the afternoon.

• Medications: If you require any personal medications, be sure to bring them.

• Comfortable shoes: We'll be doing a good amount of walking and standing!

• Sun protection: Hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen are highly recommended.

• Rain gear: Just in case!

• Anything else that will help you and your group feel comfortable and prepared.

• Rest & Recharge: Get a good night's sleep! We want you to be energized and ready to participate fully in the celebration and show of solidarity.

The day of the event:

Public Transportation Options

Taking the bus is an excellent and free way to avoid problems finding parking. The City of Charlottesville bus system (CAT) has an online trip planner and map that displays all routes and real-time bus locations. A detailed fixed route schedule book is available here. There is also an iOS and Android app available for mobile devices.

The Downtown Transit Station is the stop closest to the Freedom of Speech Wall, if you would like to join us for the march at 12 PM.

If you plan on arriving later or are unable to participate in the march, you can use the stops on Preston Ave at Washington Park or Preston Ave at Rosser Ave to go directly to the celebration at the park.

Accessibility of the march: Booker T. Washington Park is located one mile from the Freedom of Speech Wall. The path is generally accessible via curbs and sidewalks. Please note that it is uphill and some areas may have uneven terrain.

Parking:

• We recommend Parking downtown instead of by the park.

• There is ample parking Downtown:

• Market Street Parking Garage

• Several street parking spots

• There is parking near Washington Park:

• Off 10th Street, just past the pool entrance (upper lot)

• Off Preston Ave (lower lot)

• Small amount of street parking 

Please DO NOT park in any commercial parking lots or the Albemarle County Office Building.

What is May Day?

May Day, observed on May 1st, is an International Day of Solidarity with the labor movement. Its roots trace back to the Haymarket Affair of 1886 in Chicago, where the working class organized a series of strikes and rallies to demand an eight-hour workday. Sadly, these actions were met with violent opposition, but ignited an incredibly powerful global movement for workers' rights and fair labor practices. For over a century, May Day has been a day to honor the struggles and achievements of working people, and to recommit to the fight for a more just and equitable world – a world for everyone, not just billionaires. It's a day to remember that rights are not given but instead, won through collective action.

Today, May Day remains powerfully relevant as wealth and power continue to concentrate in the hands of the few while our democratic institutions undergo unprecedented pressure tests. Economic injustices do not happen in a vacuum; they are systemic and rooted in systems that prioritize profit over people and thrive where accountability is lacking. We can see this manifest as harmful policies and rhetoric that disproportionately target working people and vulnerable communities, coupled with escalating exploitation, violence, and the erosion of our rights. The recent actions of Donald Trump and agencies like ICE, while egregious, are not isolated events, but the latest in a long history of oppression. May Day calls us to stand in solidarity, not only with our local and national communities, but with workers around the world, recognizing that the struggle for workers’ rights is the frontline in the fight against authoritarianism, and our collective power is our greatest weapon.

What is Strike Readiness?

The Strike Ready campaign is a national initiative aimed at building the capacity for collective action and preparing communities to respond to attacks on workers' rights, our democracy, and our communities. The Charlottesville area is actively building capacity to join a sustained national general strike to stop the authoritarian regime from stealing a third term. Our goal is to defeat the rise of fascism, and grow a better, more inclusive democracy that centers people over profits.

We recognize that the most powerful tool we have is our collective power — when we stand together, we can win! Across the world, strikes have been one of the most effective ways a population can nonviolently assert our rights and confront an autocratic government. We’ve won union contracts, civil rights protections, and the end of authoritarian regimes — by making the cost of ignoring us too high.

Being Strike Ready doesn't necessarily mean advocating for an immediate strike. It means fostering relationships, developing skills, building infrastructure for mutual aid, and ultimately being prepared to defend our democracy and protect our communities when the time comes.