When i first came across this special day in Australia's calendar, i thought Boxing Day is a special holiday for Aussies to play with their kangaroo... -.-" 
------- by ciba Li,2007
Boxing Day is a
public holiday celebrated in the
United Kingdom,
Canada,
New Zealand and
Australia and many other members of the
Commonwealth of Nations on
December 26, the day after
Christmas Day;
[1][2] or alternatively on the next weekday after Christmas.
Australia and New ZealandIn a similar vein to the United Kingdom (see below), shopping occurssimilarly in Australia and New Zealand, although some Australianstates, including
New South Wales are tightening restrictions on Boxing Day retail trading
[2], deferring the post-Christmas sales to
December 27.
Boxing Day is not formally observed in the Australian state of
South Australia, instead what would have been the next working day after Christmas is officially titled
Proclamation Day and a public holiday is observed.
[10] However, it is still referred to as Boxing Day.
SportIn
Australia, Boxing Day has become a significant sporting day (similar to
ANZAC Day celebrations). In Melbourne the
Boxing Day Test Match is played at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground, often before the largest single day crowd of the Australian cricket season. In Sydney, the
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race starts on this day and some of the best locations for spectators are the [[
[3]North Heads]].
Events:
CanadaIn Canada, Boxing Day is observed as a holiday, except (in somecases) for those in the retail business. Boxing Day and the daysimmediately following are when many retail stores sell their Christmasand retired model products by holding clearance sales. Some shopperswill line up for hours at night (sometimes before midnight and aftermidnight on
December 26)for retailers to open their doors. Except in Quebec, retailers oftenopen their stores earlier than usual, such as 6 or 7 am. Some retailcompanies internally refer to the sales week after Christmas as the"thirteenth month." (See
Boxing Week.) It is similar to
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, in the
United States.Boxing Day 2005 was the single largest economic transaction day ever inthe history of Canadian commerce (according to Visa). Individual bigbox stores can even gross over
CAD$1,000,000 on one single Boxing Day.
As an exception, most retail stores are not permitted to open on Boxing Day in
Atlantic Canada, nor in some
Ontario communities. (The
Nova Scotiagovernment eliminated its ban on Boxing Day openings in 2006; however,most retailers voluntarily remained closed. The ban was reinstated in2007.
[11])In these areas, most stores offer the same specials on December 27 thatthey would offer elsewhere on the 26th. This distinction is not wellknown in central and western Canada.
[12]
In
Alberta, employers have a choice of giving their employees the day off on either Boxing Day or
Remembrance Day, which falls in
November.
SportFrom a sporting perspective, Boxing Day in Canada has many implications. It is usually on Boxing Day when the
IIHF begins the
World Junior Hockey Championship. This is a significant event for Canada and
Hockey Canadawhich have done extremely well at this particular international event.Boxing Day is also the start of another international hockeytournament: The
Spengler Cup.This tournament, usually played in Davos, Switzerland, along with theWorld Juniors, are aired on the two big sports networks in Canada (
TSN and
Rogers Sportsnet).
South AfricaIn
South Africa,
Boxing Day is known in the official calendar as
Day of Goodwill.It is a day on which food, left over from Christmas Day, is 'boxed',(in picnic baskets, bags, cake tins, etc.) and family and friends headto the beach or any other place of relaxation to enjoy theseleft-overs. Food is shared and enjoyed together in this way. With theadvent of the new political dispensation, this day was changed to 'Dayof Goodwill'to symbolise sharing and togetherness.
United KingdomIt is tradition in most families to spend the day with other familymembers as a sort of 'second' Christmas Day, where presents areexchanged, the left-overs of the previous day are eaten or anotherfamily meal is prepared in celebration.
Boxing Day in the UK is a day when stores launch one of the year'sbiggest sales periods. Boxing Day has become so important for retailersthat they often extend it into a "Boxing Week".
SportBoxing Day in the UK is traditionally a day for sporting activity, originally
fox hunting, but in modern times
football,
horse racing and
cricket also.
Events:
Northern IrelandIn
Northern Ireland,it is now generally known as Boxing Day and all Premier League clubs infootball play their biggest rivals, unless the day falls on a Sunday,in which case the matches take place on the 27th. The most popular oneis
Glentoran v.
Linfield, between the two biggest clubs in the league.
Non-Commonwealth countriesBoxing Day is a holiday of particularly British origin, but in many other countries worldwide,
December 26 is also a holiday under various names. In most years December 26 falls on the same day as the
St. Stephen's Day.
