Boxing Day - December 26, the British Commonwealth post-Christmas holiday, origins, and how it is observed
Boxing Day on December 26 is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and most Commonwealth countries. Originally a day for tipping servants and giving boxes of food to the poor, now observed as a major shopping and sporting event.
Next observed in CA - Boxing Day
Cultural celebrationPublished October 11, 2026
- Observed in
- Where observed in 3 countries
- When
- December
- Frequency
- Same date every year
- Days off
- 0 days - cultural observance only
- Public status
- Cultural observance - not a legal public day
Boxing Day on December 26 is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and most Commonwealth countries. Originally a day for tipping servants and giving boxes of food to the poor, now observed as a major shopping and sporting event.
The one-line summary
Boxing Day on December 26 is the British Commonwealth post-Christmas civic holiday. Originally a day for the distribution of alms (the Christmas box) to servants and the poor, now observed with major retail sales, Premier League football, and horse racing.
Origin and etymology
The name Boxing Day has several competing folk etymologies. The most cited is that it derives from the tradition of the Christmas box: a tip or small gift given on December 26 to servants, tradespeople, and the poor. Other theories point to the opening of parish poor boxes (boxes where congregants deposited alms for the poor, distributed the day after Christmas) or to the tradition of hunting boxes (the day after Christmas was a major day for fox hunts, when boxed lunches were prepared). The holiday has been formally observed in England since at least the 17th century.
The custom of giving the Christmas box is documented in English social practice from the 16th century onward and may be traced to the medieval custom of giving gifts to servants and apprentices on the feast of St. Stephen (December 26 in the Western Christian calendar; in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, December 27). The day was a traditional day off for servants, who would receive their boxes and visit their own families.
How it is observed
The Boxing Day sales are the United Kingdom's largest retail event after the Christmas Eve sales. Major retailers including John Lewis, Selfridges, and Harrods open at dawn; the number of shoppers at the largest stores can exceed the population of the local area. In Australia and New Zealand, Boxing Day is associated with the start of post-Christmas sales that run for several weeks. By 2020, online Boxing Day sales had surpassed in-store sales in many Commonwealth markets.
Boxing Day is one of the largest sporting days of the year in Commonwealth countries. The English Premier League typically plays a full fixture programme on Boxing Day; cricket Test matches begin at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (the Boxing Day Test) and at Newlands in Cape Town (South Africa's equivalent). The King George VI Chase at Kempton Park in Surrey is the most prestigious Boxing Day horse race. In Sydney, the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on the harbour draws crowds of hundreds of thousands.
UK bank holiday
Boxing Day is a bank holiday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971. Scotland does not observe Boxing Day as a bank holiday; instead, it observes January 2 (the day after New Year's Day) as a holiday, which produces the extended Hogmanay break typical of Scottish calendars.
The UK Boxing Day bank holiday applies even when December 26 falls on a weekend, with a substitute weekday. In 2027 Boxing Day falls on a Sunday, so the substitute holiday is Monday December 27. In 2028 Boxing Day falls on a Tuesday and is observed normally.
Country variations
Boxing Day is observed in:
- United Kingdom β bank holiday; sales, football, hunting meets (in rural areas), and pub visits.
- Canada β statutory holiday in Ontario and most other provinces; sales and ice hockey.
- Australia β public holiday in all states except South Australia (where it is called Proclamation Day); Sydney to Hobart yacht race; cricket Boxing Day Test.
- New Zealand β public holiday; sales.
- Hong Kong β public holiday; the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day.
- Nigeria, Ghana, and other Commonwealth countries in Africa β public holiday; family gatherings.
- Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean Commonwealth β public holiday; associated with the traditional mas (masquerade) celebrations and Christmasε»Άη».
- The Netherlands β Tweede Kerstdag (Second Christmas Day), a public holiday with religious character.
- Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, parts of Switzerland β Stefanitag (St. Stephen's Day), a public holiday with religious character.
- Poland β St. Stephen's Day (Drugi dzieΕ ΕwiΔ t), a public holiday.
Legal status
Boxing Day is established as a bank holiday in the UK under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 and as a statutory holiday in Ontario and most other Canadian provinces under provincial employment standards. In Australia it is a public holiday under the relevant state and territory public holiday acts. The United States does not observe Boxing Day, though it is unofficially recognised and many employers give the day off between Christmas and New Year.
Where it is contested
Boxing Day is largely uncontroversial but has generated occasional debate over the past decade: retailers have pushed to open on Boxing Day (and on Christmas Day) to capture sales, prompting strikes and protests from retail workers; some Australian states moved to make Boxing Day a non-trading day; and the question of whether the holiday's name is offensive (given the literal reading of "boxing") comes up occasionally in the UK and Canada.
Boxing Day by the numbers
Sources
- UK Government, Bank holidays: gov.uk
- Wikipedia, "Boxing Day": en.wikipedia.org