Parishioners would make monetary contributions that the Church would then give out on December 26, which is also the feast of St. Stephen. I always thought Boxing Day was the day (that would happen in January) that we get all our Christmas decorations boxed up and put away until we need them again next year. It’s typical for families to invite others over to enjoy a casual lunch made from Christmas Day leftovers. Many will also head out to stores to shop post-Christmas sales or make exchanges and returns. However, people can celebrate anywhere, as demonstrated by the McLeans’ party. Even though some of their American friends work on the 26th, people gather at their house in the evening for a spirited pub quiz, yummy leftovers and mulled wine.

How Is Boxing Day Celebrated?

Families will gather together for meals, relax at home, attend sporting events and/or go shopping. Some believe it comes from the alms boxes churches put out to collect donations for the less fortunate. Others, however, attribute it to the old practice of giving boxes of gifts to servants on the day after Christmas as they were required to work on Christmas Day. Boxing Day is also a day of sporting events, including horse racing, foxhunting and rugby. Some say it stems from when the wealthy would give boxes filled with small gifts, money and Christmas leftovers to their employees to recognize their service. Another theory is that churches put out boxes for people to give money to the poor, and the money was distributed the day after Christmas.

What Is Boxing Day and Why Is it Celebrated?

The Championship season will consist of 33 weekend rounds, nine midweek rounds and four bank holiday rounds, finishing on Saturday, May 2, 2026. Boxing Day highlights include Birmingham at home to Derby, Leicester entertaining Watford and Norwich hosting Charlton. Leicester travel to Sheffield United on New Year’s Day, with Southampton at home to Millwall and Swansea greeting West Brom.

Which Countries Celebrate Boxing Day?

• Parishioners would make monetary contributions that the Church would then give out on December 26, which is also the feast of St. Stephen.
• Both the Boxing Day Test cricket match held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race begin on Boxing Day.
• In East Donegal and Inishowen, the day is also popularly known as Boxing Day.
• Here’s how people around the world celebrate Boxing Day, and explore some of the legends that may have given rise to this holiday.
• So, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the upper class would take leftover food, goods, or money and put them in boxes to give out to the poor.
• It’s clear, however, that what they all have in common are themes of charity, gift-giving, and celebrations, which have lived on and are present in how this holiday is observed today.

Most people use the day to shop, spend time with family, watch sporting events and eat leftovers from Christmas dinner. For most people, today’s version of Boxing Day isn’t about ancient traditions or giving out piles of presents. Instead, it’s an official bank holiday, and a day of rest and relaxation (although many retailers hold “Boxing Day Sales”). After all, Christmas is over and there’s nothing left to do but eat leftovers, play with the presents you opened the day before, and enjoy a day off from work or school.

Shopping

The Los Angeles Times reported Chávez Jr. struggled throughout the match, something the 39-year-old readily admitted to while speaking to reporters following the bout. Saturday night felt like “the first day of my boxing career,” the YouTuber-turned-boxer told reporters. Frank Lampard’s Coventry start at home to Hull, Stoke entertain Derby, Oxford play Portsmouth and Liam Manning’s first game in charge of Norwich will be at home to Millwall. Sheffield United and Bristol City start at Bramall Lane on August 9 in a repeat of last season’s Championship play-off semi-final, West Brom host Blackburn and promoted Charlton welcome Watford to The Valley. Birmingham and Ipswich kick off the new campaign on August 8 with a Friday night game under the St Andrew’s lights.

Food

• United will prove an enormous challenge for Wrexham having finished third in the Championship last season and reached the play-off final.
• Each year, on December 26th, several countries around the world celebrate a holiday known as Boxing Day.
• Christians observe St. Stephen’s Day in celebration of the first Christian martyr who was known for helping the poor and for his charitable work.

The EFL will have a full programme across their three divisions – and all their games are streamed. For those who devour Boxing Day football from morning until night, there is some good news. The five midweeks are at the beginning of December, January and March, one towards the middle of February and, as outlined, another on 30 December. With the 2025–26 Championship fixture list having been revealed, oleksandr usyk vs daniel dubois clubs competing in England’s second tier can begin to plan their campaigns. December 26 (Boxing Day) is also the feast day of St. Stephen or St. Stephen’s Day.

Off-duty, you’ll find her devouring pizza, taking ferry rides and long walks all over the city, scouring eBay, flea markets, and estate sales, or binge-watching Real Housewives. Yet another clue to the holiday’s moniker can be found in the song “Good King Wenceslas.” TIME explains that this carol tells the tale of the Duke of Bohemia in the 10th century. On St. Stephen’s Day, he observed a poor man on his land, struggling to gather wood in the middle of a snowstorm.

The two sides have only clashed twice before and never in the league. In Nigeria, Boxing Day is a public holiday for working people and students. When it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, there is always a holiday on Monday. They give extra tips to their mail carrier or other trade workers during the holiday season. Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your empty gift boxes.

The money in the Alms (charity) boxes in the church was given to the poor. The church parishioners deposited donations into a box the clergyman set out for that purpose and handed them out at Christmas. The custom arose because servants, who would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, had the next day off. They were given gifts from their masters and would go home to visit their families.

The money box at the churches is more likely from the early 20th century. In the United Kingdom, Boxing Day could not fall on Sunday 26 December. Instead, Boxing Day would be celebrated on Monday 27 December, with the preceding Sunday called Christmas Sunday. This rule was independent of the rule of bank holidays being taken in lieu. Over time Sunday 26 December increasingly became referred to as Boxing Day. Another theory says it derives from the opening of alms boxes provided by the church as opposed to gifts given by employers, according to Encylopedia Britannica.

Servants would usually serve the wealthy family on the day of Christmas, so on the day after, they would get a day off to spend with their family along with a Christmas Box that contained gifts for them. In other words, according to this definition, Boxing Day is a day to recognize all the service people in your life by leaving them Christmas presents. This year, if you want to celebrate Boxing Day the right way, make sure to leave a box of goodies for delivery people, the sanitation worker, and all the other people that make life easier for everyone.