Shakespeare Challenge - King Lear / patriotism

Tomorrow is May Day. In Austria it is a public holiday celebrating Labour Day but it has also been a celebration of spring for centuries. On April 30 every town erects a huge pole which s completely stripped of all branches except for the top greenery. It is guarded overnight as traditionally the young men try to steal it. I saw two poles being erected today: one in the main town with a lot of pomp and ceremony but erected with machinery and the other in a small village nearby which was erected by hand by the locals. Wooden poles with metal prongs were placed under the pole to push it up in stages.
The Austrians are very patriotic and proud of their heritage as seen by the red/white/red of the decorations and flags that always accompany an occasion such as this.