CBD creative agency behind new May8 Day push for mateship and social unity

A new grassroots campaign encouraging Australians to come together around mateship and social connection is gathering momentum, and it has been spearheaded by a creative agency based in Melbourne’s CBD.

May8 Day, a new community-led initiative proposed for May 8 each year, is the brainchild of Good One Creative and its co-founder Charlie Howcroft, who has been travelling around on his moped interviewing Australians about what mateship means to them.

Rather than calling for a new public holiday or reopening debate around January 26, the campaign is pitching May8 Day as a simple annual occasion for people across the country to celebrate friendship, culture and community in an inclusive and low-pressure way.

For Howcroft, the idea grew from a sense that many Australians are increasingly uneasy about how to express pride in their country and culture in a way that feels positive and unifying.

“There is so much happening in the world causing social friction and division right now,” he said.

He said the response so far had been strong because the concept was intentionally simple and broadly accessible.

“It is not a new public holiday businesses need to manage, it is not a celebration linked to a historic event, it is just a day to celebrate mateship, plain and simple,” he said. “If you are in Australia, May8 Day is your day.”

The campaign has already drawn contributions from a diverse range of public figures and community voices, including former AFL player Mitch Brown, Indigenous rights advocate and model Nyima Tucker, radio personality Will McMahon and Maribyrnong mayor Mohamed Semra, all sharing their own reflections on mateship through a rolling social media content series.

That content is being shared across the @mateshipday Instagram, TikTok and YouTube channels, with Howcroft’s street interviews aiming to capture both humorous and heartfelt responses to the same deceptively simple question.

The first public celebration of May8 Day will be held on Friday, May 8 at the City of Melbourne Bowls Club in Flagstaff Gardens from 6pm to 10pm. The free event will include a sausage sizzle with kanga bangas and damper, lawn bowls, live music, and poem and letter-writing sessions centred on the theme of mateship. Attendees are also being encouraged to bring a sauce or condiment that represents their own friendship group or culture.

For Melbourne, the campaign is also an example of how local creative businesses can shape broader cultural conversations from the city centre.

Good One Creative may be small, but its latest idea is aimed at something much larger: creating a new annual ritual that invites Australians to reconnect with one another in a lighter, more generous spirit.

Whether May8 Day becomes a lasting fixture on the national calendar remains to be seen. But as an idea born out of the CBD, it is already asking a timely question about what people still share, and how that might be worth celebrating.