Where are May Day events in California? What to know

Thousands of Californians are expected to gather in the streets on Friday for May Day protests in solidarity with workers.

The organization May Day Strong has close to 750 events planned across the country, specifically calling on "workers, students, and families" to march on May 1 and to put "workers over billionaires."

In California, local organizers have over 100 events planned, with some of thelargest demonstrations expected in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

"No School. No Work.No Shopping,"reads theMay Day Strong organization's website."Across the country, we are standing up and demanding that we tax the rich so our families, not their fortunes, come first. No ICE. No war."

What is May Day?

May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, honors workers and the labor movement's history.

In 1886, hundreds of workers in cities across America went on strike in hopes of establishing an eight-hour workday. The strike led up to one of the country's "largest and most tumultuous periods of worker unrest,"according to UCLA's College of Social Science.

Specifically, on May 4, 1886, eight men were arrested by the Chicago police for inciting violence after a bomb exploded at a protest and chaos broke out, withofficer and civilian deaths. The men were put on trial, and several were executed,according to PBS.

This was later dubbed the “Haymarket Incident” or “Haymarket Affair."

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International labor groups and socialist advocates adopted the International Workers’ Day or May Day holiday years after 1886. In some places around the world, May Day activities still memorialize the “Chicago Martyrs,”according to UCLA's College of Social Science.

May Day events in Northern California

• Berkeley: May Day Demonstration - 5 p.m. at Gilman Street at Santa Fe Avenue

• Chico: May Day Demonstration - 4 p.m. at Forest Avenue and 20th Street

• Davis: Yolo County May Day celebration - 5:30 p.m. at Central Park

• Eureka: May Day Demonstration - 5 p.m. at Humboldt County Superior Court

• Martinez: May Day Demonstration - noon at County Building Plaza at 1025 Escobar Street

• Mountain View: May Day March - 5:30 p.m. at Rengstorff Park

• Oakland: International Workers' Day March - 2 p.m. at Fruitvale Plaza

• Palo Alto: May Day Demonstration - 5 p.m. at 393 Stanford Shopping Center

• Placerville: May Day Demonstration - 1 p.m. at Center Street

• Richmond: May Day Demonstration - 4 p.m. at the corner of MacDonald Ave and Civic Center Plaza

• Roseville: May Day Demonstration - 11 a.m. to noon at U.S. Social Security Administration in Roseville

• Sacramento: May Day March to John Moss Building - 11 a.m. at 650 Capitol Mall / Community Picnic - 1 p.m. at McKinley Park Pavilion

• San Francisco: May Day March - 2 p.m. at Civic Center Plaza / Workers Over Billionaires Rally - 4 p.m. at Embarcadero Plaza SF

• Stockton: May Day Demonstration - 6 p.m. at San Joaquin Delta College

• Truckee: May Day Demonstration and Save the Forest Service - 1 p.m. at Truckee Way overpass

May Day events planned in LA, Southern California

At the end of March, the Los Angeles May Day Coalitiongathered outside MacArthur Parkin Los Angeles with a message: Join in on a march on May 1 and shut Los Angeles down by not attending work or school, or by spending.

Weeks later, those plans remain as communities nationwide see demonstrations of their own. Participants are expected to gather at MacArthur Park in the morning, according to organizers; SEIU-United Service Workers West said several thousand are expected to come to the park for the demonstration.

“We are going to continue to fight for freedom,” Angelica Salas, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights executive director, said in March. “The freedom to stay with our families. The freedom to work and have a decent wage without being persecuted by ICE or Border Patrol.”

It’s one of dozens of demonstrations that are planned across Southern California — generally, Bakersfield and everywhere south — on May 1. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of where demonstrations will be held. You can view a list of demonstrations for Southern California, including the time and location for each event, atmaydaystrong.org.

• Bakersfield

• Beaumont

• Big Bear Lake

• Brea

• Carpinteria

• Chino Hills

• Chula Vista

• Claremont

• Corona

• Coronado

• Culver City

• Del Mar

• Downey

• El Cajon

• Encinitas

• Idyllwild-Pine Cove

• Indio

• La Jolla

• Lakeside

• Lakewood

• La Puente

• Long Beach

• Los Angeles

• Pasadena

• Oceanside

• Orange

• Oxnard

• Rancho Cucamonga

• Rancho Mirage

• San Bernardino

• San Marcos

• San Diego

• Santa Ana

• Santa Barbara

• Santa Clarita

• Santa Maria

• Santa Monica

• Torrance

• Ventura

• Whittier

• Woodland Hills

Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her atpbarraza@usatodayco.com.

Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him atnpadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadillaor on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.Sign up for theTODAY Californian newsletteror follow us on Facebook atTODAY Californian.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:California May Day events near me. See list for LA, SF and more