Some people choose to go for a walk in the countryside, while other flock to the Post-Christmas Sales in large stores. Some people even spend part of the night and early morning queuing to get into the stores when the best bargains are still available. This makes December 26 a very important day for many retailers.
It is a bank holiday. All schools and many organizations are closed. Some may close for the whole week between Christmas and New Year.
There are a number of possible stories behind the origin of the term "Boxing Day". One of them is that the Day after Christmas was the traditional Day on which aristocracy distributed presents (boxes) to servants and employees. The servants returned home, opened their boxes and had a second Christmas on what became known as Boxing Day.
Today´s Boxing Day festivities have very little to do with servants. Instead, they revolve around football, horse races, fox hunt, visits from friends, food and drinking at the pubs.
