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The '''Rŭngrado May First Stadium''', or '''May Day Stadium''', is a multi-use [[stadium]] in [[Pyongyang]], [[North Korea]], completed on [[May 1]], [[1989]].
It is currently used for [[football (soccer)|football]] matches and, a few athletics matches, but most often for the spectacular Arirang performances. The stadium can seat 150,000<ref name="ws">{{cite web|work=WorldStadiums.com|title=Rungrado May Day Stadium|url=http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_menu/architecture/stadium_design/pyongyang_may_day.shtml|accessdate=2008-05-16}}</ref><ref>[http://www.fussballtempel.net/stadienallgemein.html www.fussballtempel.net]</ref>, which is the [[List of stadiums by capacity|largest stadium capacity in the world]].
Its namesname comecomes from Rungra Island in the [[Taedong River]], upon which it is situated, and [[May Day]], the international day celebrating [[labour (economics)|labour]] and particularly celebrated among [[communist]]s. Its scalloped roof features 16 [[arch]]es arranged in a ring, and it is said to resemble a [[parachute]] or a [[magnolia]] blossom.
It is not to be confused with the alsonearby large [[Kim Il-sung Stadium]].
It hosts events on a main pitch sprawling across over 22,500 m² (242,200 ft²). Its total floor space is over 207,000 m² (2.2 million ft²) across eight stories, and the lobes of its roof peak at more than 60 m (197 ft) from the ground.
While the stadium is used for sporting events, it is moremost famous as the site of massive paradesperformances and shows celebrating [[Kim Il-sung]] and the Korean nation. In MayJune-July of [[2002]] it was the site of the colossal and meticulously choreographed "[[Arirang Festival|Arirang]]" gymnastic and artistic performance in(sometimes honoreroneously oftranslated [[Kimas Jong-il]]'s"mass 60thgames"). birthday. The extravaganza involved some 100,000+ participants—double the number of spectators<ref name="guardian20020517">{{cite news|last=Watts|first=Jonathan|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,717149,00.html|title=Despair, hunger and defiance at the heart of the greatest show on earth|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=[[17 May]] [[2002]]}}</ref>— and was open to foreigners, a rare occurrence. Critics of the regime said the spectacle was an attempt to distract from the [[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002 World Cup]] being co-hosted by South Korea shortly(and thereafterJapan), and an effort to raise scarce [[hard currency]].
It was also the venue in which [[Kim Jong-Il]] in [[2000]] entertained [[Madeleine Albright]], the [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] under President [[Bill Clinton]] and the highest ranking [[United States|American]] official ever to visit North Korea.
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