Countdown to
Boxing Day
Christmas's quieter second act — sport, sales, and leftovers.
Today is Boxing Day.
54 days until Boxing Day, on Saturday, December 26, 2026.
Boxing Day is Saturday, December 26, 2026. Happens every December 26.
Boxing Day falls on December 26, the day after Christmas, and across Britain and the Commonwealth it works as Christmas’s quieter second act — a public holiday for sport, sales, long walks, and leftovers rather than the main event. Its origins, though, are charitable: it was the day the well-off shared what they had with the people who had worked for them.
Where the name comes from
The most cited explanation is the “Christmas box.” Servants and tradespeople worked through Christmas Day itself, so on the 26th their employers sent them home with boxes of money, gifts, or leftover food as thanks for a year’s service. The same day carried a parallel church tradition: alms boxes that had collected donations through Advent were opened on December 26 and distributed to the poor. That date is also St. Stephen’s Day, honoring the first Christian martyr — a deacon remembered for serving the needy — which is why Ireland and parts of Europe call the holiday St. Stephen’s Day rather than Boxing Day.
How Boxing Day is spent
The charitable roots have largely given way to leisure and commerce. Boxing Day is one of the biggest shopping days of the British retail year, and one of its busiest for sport: a full English football programme, the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton Park, and, in Australia, the Boxing Day Test cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a fixture since 1980. The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has started from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day every year since 1945, except 2020, when COVID-19 forced its cancellation. For many families, though, the day is simply about doing very little after the excess of Christmas.
How we get this date. Boxing Day is a fixed calendar date — December 26 — so the countdown targets the 26th each year and rolls forward once it passes. As a public holiday it has one wrinkle: when December 26 falls on a weekend, the UK moves the day off to the next free weekday (when the 26th falls on a Saturday, for example, the substitute day is the following Monday), but the holiday itself is still observed on the 26th.
🎁 Fun facts about Boxing Day
- The name comes from the Christmas box: servants and tradespeople worked through Christmas Day, so on the 26th they were sent home with boxes of money, gifts, or leftover food.
- December 26 is also St. Stephen's Day, honoring the first Christian martyr; church alms boxes collected through Advent were opened and given to the poor on this day.
- Boxing Day is a public holiday across the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; in Ireland and parts of Europe, December 26 is observed as St. Stephen's Day instead.
- It is one of the biggest sporting days of the year: a full English football programme, the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton Park, and the Boxing Day Test cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a fixture since 1980.
- The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has started from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day every year since 1945, except 2020, when COVID-19 forced its cancellation.
Upcoming Boxing Day dates
| Date | Days away |
|---|---|
| 54 days | |
| 419 days | |
| 785 days | |
| 1,150 days | |
| 1,515 days |
How people mark Boxing Day
- Boxing Day sales and shopping
- Football matches and the King George VI Chase horse race
- Boxing Day Test cricket and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in Australia
- Country walks, hunts, and Christmas-dinner leftovers
- A relaxed second day at home with family
Frequently asked
When is Boxing Day?
Boxing Day is December 26 every year, the day after Christmas. In the UK, if the 26th falls on a weekend, the bank holiday shifts to the next available weekday.
How is the date calculated?
It is a fixed calendar date, December 26, so the countdown targets the 26th each year and rolls forward once it passes. The public-holiday substitute, used when the 26th is a weekend, is a separate observance.
Why is it called Boxing Day?
The most cited explanation is the Christmas box: households gave boxed gifts, tips, or money to servants and tradespeople on the 26th, and church alms boxes for the poor were opened the same day.
Is Boxing Day only a British holiday?
No. It began in Britain but is a public holiday across much of the Commonwealth, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In Ireland and much of Europe, December 26 is St. Stephen's Day.