Boxing Day: Do you know what it is?

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

GERMANY (eTN) – Today is Boxing Day.

GERMANY (eTN) – Today is Boxing Day. But for us in Germany, it is the second Christmas Day, and in many European countries, such as Switzerland, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and those in Scandinavia, December 26 is celebrated as the Second Christmas Day. The Italians call it Santo Stefano.

But in Great Britain and the British Commonwealth, today is Boxing Day. No, not Christmas day, but Boxing Day, but why is that? Things are different in the UK.

A friend living in the United Kingdom thought when moving to England one has to go to a boxing event… but whose? Your in-laws? Your landlord? Your boss?


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Beautiful Boxing Day!

Well, this is the day you get your Christmas gifts in a box, some people explained.

But doesnโ€™t Father Christmas come down the chimney? And doesnโ€™t he put all the gifts in the socks hanging on the mantel? This is all very confusing.

Thanks goodness we have Wikipedia, and here is the answer.

Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day. It is the day when servants and tradespeople receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box,” from their bosses or employers, and this takes place in the United Kingdom, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and other former British colonies.

In Australia, Boxing Day is a federal public holiday. In the Australian state of South Australia, December 28 is a public holiday known as Proclamation Day. Here, Boxing Day is not normally a public holiday. The holiday for Proclamation Day is observed.

In Canada, Boxing Day sales are common and often come with dramatic price reductions.

In South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994. Due to the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, the day is known as St. Stephanโ€™s Day to Catholics, as well as in Italy, Finland, and Alsace and Moselle in France.

It is also known as both St. Stephen’s Day and the Day of the Wren or Wrenโ€™s Day in Ireland.

Today and shortly after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was holding her annual Christmas speech, Boxing Day shoppers hit the shops in London with the biggest price cuts since 2008, and after the mild autumn weather, left fashion chains with piles of unsold winter clothing to clear after Christmas.

Millions of shoppers expected to make the annual pilgrimage to the sales at shopping centers around the country. Harrods rolled out the red carpet for early shoppers this morning and laid on a string quartet as well as complimentary mince pies and blankets until the doors opened at 10 am. First cues were forming as early as 5 am at some shopping malls!

And it is not ending here.

A special snowfall on Boxing Day is forecasted by both the Met Office in Great Britain with snow in most parts of England and Wales that could wake up to a blanket of snow on Saturday when freezing temperatures begin to take hold.

Wishing you all a very Happy Boxing Day wherever you are.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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