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Boxing Day
Queue for Boxing Day sale outside large store. Photograph taken at 6:00 AM.
Observed by	United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
Type	International, Commonwealth countries
Date	December 26
Related to	St. Stephen's Day

Boxing Day is a public holiday celebrated in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia and many other Commonwealth countries on December 26, the day after Christmas Day;^[1][2] or alternatively on the next weekday after Christmas.

Contents 1 Original Place 2 Date 3 Observance by Country 3.1 Australia & New Zealand 3.1.1 Sport 3.2 Canada 3.2.1 Sport 3.3 South Africa 3.4 United Kingdom 3.4.1 Sport 3.4.2 Island of Ireland 3.5 Non-Commonwealth countries 4 References 5 External links

The term originates in Victorian era Britain, for the day after Christmas, when the rich would box up gifts and bring them to the poor. The Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas sings about giving gifts of flesh, wine, and pine logs to a poor man on St. Stephen's Day.

The term also refers to the fact that children traditionally opened their money-boxes on this day to access the money they had received over the Christmas period.

In common usage, 26 December is continually referred to as Boxing Day whichever day of the week it occurs on.^[3] If it falls on a Sunday then in countries where it is a Bank Holiday the Statutory Holiday is moved to Monday 27 December to ensure a day without work.^[4][5][6] As Christmas Day would therefore be a Saturday, Tuesday 28 December is also declared as a holiday in lieu.

In some Commonwealth countries, fixed-date holidays falling on Saturday or Sunday are often observed on the next weekday, so if Boxing Day falls on a Saturday then Monday 28 December is a public holiday; in the UK and other countries this is accomplished by Royal Proclamation.

If Christmas Day falls on a Sunday itself then the Boxing Day holiday is automatically on Monday 26 December, and no Royal Proclamation is required. In such a circumstance, a 'substitute bank holiday in lieu of Christmas Day' is declared for Tuesday 27 December, this being the next available working day - thus the Boxing Day holiday occurs before the substitute Christmas holiday.

Although the same legislation (Bank Holidays Act 1871) originally established the Bank Holidays throughout the British Isles, the holiday after Christmas was defined as Boxing Day in England and Wales and St Stephen's Day for Ireland. St Stephen's Day is fixed as the 26 December.^[7]

In a similar vein to the United Kingdom (see below), shopping occurs similarly in Australia and New Zealand, although some Australian states, including New South Wales are tightening restrictions on Boxing Day retail trading[1], deferring the post-Christmas sales to December 27.

Boxing Day is not formally observed in the Australian state of South Australia, instead what would have been the next working day after Christmas is officially titled Proclamation Day and a public holiday is observed. ^[8] However, it is still referred to as Boxing Day.

In Australia, Boxing Day has become a significant sporting day (similar to ANZAC Day celebrations). In Melbourne the Boxing Day Test Match is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, often before the largest single day crowd of the Australian cricket season. In Sydney, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race typically starts on this day.

Events:

• Boxing Day Test (Test Match cricket)
• Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

In Canada, Boxing Day is observed as a holiday, except (in some cases) for those in the retail business. Boxing Day and the days immediately following are when many retail stores sell their Christmas and retired model products by holding clearance sales. Some shoppers will line up for hours at night (sometimes before midnight and after midnight on December 26) for retailers to open their doors. Except in Quebec, retailers often open their stores earlier than usual, such as 6 or 7 am. Some retail companies internally refer to the sales week after Christmas as the "thirteenth month." (See Boxing Week.) It is similar to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, in the United States. Boxing Day 2005 was the single largest economic transaction day ever in the history of Canadian commerce (according to Visa). Individual big box stores can even gross over CAD$1,000,000 on one single Boxing Day.

As an exception, most retail stores are not permitted to open on Boxing Day in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2006, Nova Scotia eliminated a similar ban on Boxing Day openings, although most retailers elected to continue past practice and remain closed that day. In these provinces, most stores offer the same specials on December 27 that they would offer elsewhere on the 26th. This distinction is not well known in central and western Canada.^[9]

In addition to the retail aspect of the holiday, Boxing Day also serves, in English-speaking parts of the country, as a second day for families to gather for dinner and to exchange gifts. Boxing Day dinner is, in many ways, just as much a part of many families traditions as Christmas dinner itself.^{[citation needed]}

From a sporting perspective, Boxing Day in Canada has many implications. It is usually on Boxing Day when the IIHF begins the World Junior Hockey Championship. This is a significant event for Canada and Hockey Canada which have done extremely well at this particular international event. Boxing Day is also the start of another international hockey tournament: The Spengler Cup. This tournament, usually played in Davos, Switzerland, along with the World Juniors, are aired on the two big sports networks in Canada (TSN and Rogers Sportsnet)

Boxing Day Test in Cricket is the 5 day match that starts on 26 December and is generally played in Melbourne. Australia hosts teams every summer and the visiting teams play one test match starting on Boxing Day.

In South Africa, Boxing Day is known in the official calendar as Day of Goodwill.

Boxing Day in the UK is a day when stores sell their excess Christmas inventory at slightly reduced prices. Boxing Day has become so important for retailers that they often extend it into a "Boxing Week".

Boxing Day in the UK is traditionally a day for sporting activity, originally fox hunting, but in modern times football and horse racing.

Events:

• English and Scottish Football matches
• Boxing Day Dip - in certain UK coastal towns (including Hartlepool, Sunderland, Whitby, Tenby and most coastal parts of Cornwall), people wade into the sea on boxing day - often in fancy dress, and usually to raise money for a local charity.
• Football Matches played in Northern Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, Boxing Day is known as St Stephens Day and has been a public holiday since 1871.

In Northern Ireland, it is now generaly known as Boxing Day and all Premier League clubs in football play their biggest rivals, unless the day falls on a Sunday, in which case the matches take place on the 27th. The most popular one is Glentoran v. Linfield, between the two biggest clubs in the league.

Boxing Day is a holiday of particularly British origin, but in many other countries worldwide, December 26 is also a holiday under various names. In most years December 26 falls on the same day as the Feast of St. Stephen or St Stephen's Day. See December 26#Holidays and observances for other observances.

• Snopes: The Origins of Boxing Day