‘Join the Fight’ — Seattle’s May Day 2026 will again rally in Cal Anderson Park for march downtown

Thousands will again fill Cal Anderson Park this week for May Day.

Labor unions, worker and immigrant rights groups, and community groups are planning Friday’s International Workers’ Day rally and march to once again start in Capitol Hill’s central park.

“Join the fight, as workers, immigrants, and migrants unite at Seattle’s 2026 May Day rally and march,” the local Teamsters 117 group says in its notice to members:

May Day – International Workers’ Day – is a day born from the labor struggles of working people right here in the United States. Seattle has a proud and living history of workers and communities taking collective action, and history teaches us that when workers unite across race, language, sector, and background, we are unstoppable.

“The struggle for dignity, justice, and democracy has always been won in the streets – not the boardrooms,” it concludes.

The city’s march moved to a Cal Anderson start in 2025 and continued a string of enthusiastic and mostly peaceful May 1st events in Seattle following years of intense clashes between police and demonstrators pushed onto the streets of Capitol Hill.

Last year, crowds grew from the noontime rally with hundreds of workers from multiple unions and labor groups joining hundreds and hundreds more from community and activist groups. Plenty also showed up to protest the second Trump administration and the White House’s ongoing worker cuts in key science, health, safety, and transportation departments and attacks on spending on federal programs. Earlier that Thursday, students joined faculty in a walk-out at nearby Seattle Central to protest budget cuts.

Organizers had private security on hand to help with safety. A robust car and bike brigade was also on hand to help protect the march as it moved through the city. The Seattle Police Department said it was staffing to “provide safety and security for our community members during the upcoming May Day events.” In addition to a large contingent of bike officers, members of the Police Outreach Engagement Team were also on hand.

This year’s event is expected to draw larger crowds as it falls on a Friday. Weather is expected to be around a cloudy 62 F.

Organizers are calling for a “national day of action.”

We’re joining a national day of action calling for No Work, No School, and No Shopping on May 1, 2026. Together we want to send these three messages:
– Communities, Not ICE
– Workers, Not Billionaires
– Services, Not War

Multiple organizations are organizing the event according to seattlemayday.org including SEIU 775, SEIU 6, UFCW, 3000, UAW, the MLK Labor Council, Local 8, the Washington State Labor Council, Casa Latina, Bayan Washington, Working Washington, and Starbucks Workers United. The Latino Community Fund is serving as fiscal sponsor.

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