Boxing Day Observed by Commonwealth nations Type Bank holiday / Public holiday Date 26 December Next time 26 December 2015 Frequency annual Related to St. Stephens Day , Day of Goodwill, and Second Day of Christmas/Second Christmas Day. Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day , when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a Christmas box, from their bosses or employers, [1] in the United Kingdom, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and other former British colonies. Today, Boxing Day is the bank holiday that generally takes place on 26 December. In South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994. Due to the Roman Catholic Churchs liturgical calendar, the day is known as St. Stephens Day to Catholics, and in Italy, Finland, and Alsace and Moselle in France. It is also known as both St. Stephens Day and the Day of the Wren or Wrens Day in Ireland. In some European countries, most notably Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and those in Scandinavia, 26 December is celebrated as the Second Christmas Day . [2]
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 08:44:47 +0000