Праздник подарков когда

День подарков (англ. Boxing Day) — праздник, который отмечается в Великобритании и в ряде стран Британского содружества наций: Австралии, Новой Зеландии, Канаде на следующий день после Рождества — 26 декабря.

В наши дни его отличительной чертой стали гигантские распродажи в больших и маленьких магазинах. Именно в День подарков можно приобрести любую понравившуюся вещь за полцены. Чем народ с удовольствием пользуется.

Впрочем, корни у этого праздника более чем целомудренные. Теорий относительно возникновения Дня подарков существует много, но все соглашаются с тем, что праздник начался с обычая дарить деньги и подарки людям более низкого социального положения. Подарками среди себе подобных обменивались накануне Рождества, а бедняки же получали подарки в последнюю очередь. Подарки дарили в коробках, отсюда и название — Boxing Day (англ. box — коробка).

Только в прошлом веке Boxing Day стал официальным праздником. Комбинация двух праздников — Рождества и Дня подарков — еще больше укрепила традицию собираться семьями на Рождество.

В ряде стран День подарков наполнен и значимым спортивными событиями. Так, Австралии День он становится ещё и значимым спортивным днем (схожим по интенсивности с церемониями Дня ANZAC). В Мельбурне проходит тестовый матч на главном крикетном поле, в Сиднее начинается ежегодная гонка на яхтах Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, которую называют иконой австралийских летних видов спорта, и которая соперничает по популярности с такими громкими для страны событиями, как Кубок Дэвиса (теннис) и Кубок Мельбурна (скачки).

День подарков — важнейший из дней для любителей охоты на лис в Великобритании и США, поскольку в этот день происходит наибольшее число встреч охотников и организуется охот на лис. Ежегодно именно 26 декабря стартует Чемпионат мира по хоккею с шайбой среди молодёжных команд, организуемый Международной хоккейной федерацией, также в этот день проводятся матчи одного из туров высших лиг чемпионатов Англии, Шотландии и Северной Ирландии по футболу, а в африканских странах-членах Содружества наций — боксёрские поединки среди профессионалов.

Кстати, у католиков есть праздник-аналог Дню подарков, который отмечается также 26 декабря, — День Святого Стефана. Он имеет схожие традиции, поэтому эти праздники нередко путают друг с другом.

Материалы по теме в Журнале Calend.ru:

Инфографика – постер «26 декабря — День подарков»
Статья «Что дарить себе и другим, чтобы быть счастливыми?»
Рассказ «Самые дорогие подарки»

«Christmas box» redirects here. For the genus of shrubs, see Sarcococca.

Boxing Day
Boxing Day crowds shopping at Toronto’s Eaton Centre.
Also called	Offering Day[1]
Observed by	Commonwealth nations
Type	Bank holiday, public holiday
Date	26 December
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Day of Goodwill Saint Stephen’s Day (concurrent) Second Day of Christmastide

Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December).^[1] Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to poor people, today Boxing Day forms part of Christmas celebrations, with many people choosing to take advantage of Boxing Day sales. It originated in Great Britain and is celebrated in several countries that previously formed part of the British Empire. The attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place on 28 December if necessary to ensure it falls on a weekday. Boxing Day is also concurrent with the Christian festival Saint Stephen’s Day.

In parts of Europe, such as several regions of Spain,^[2][3] the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Slovakia,^[4] Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, and Ireland, 26 December is Saint Stephen’s Day, which is considered the second day of Christmas.^[5]

Etymology[edit]

There are competing theories for the origins of the term, none of which is definitive.^[6]

The European tradition of giving money and other gifts to those in need, or in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown; it may reference the alms box placed in the narthex of Christian churches to collect donations for the poor. The tradition may come from a custom in the late Roman/early Christian era wherein alms boxes placed in churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen,^[7] which, in the Western Christian Churches, falls on the same day as Boxing Day, the second day of Christmastide. On this day, it is customary in some localities for the alms boxes to be opened and distributed to the poor.^[1][8]

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest attestation from Britain in 1743, defining it as «the day after Christmas day», and saying «traditionally on this day tradespeople, employees, etc., would receive presents or gratuities (a «Christmas box») from their customers or employers.»^[9]

The term «Christmas box»^[10] dates back to the 17th century, and among other things meant:

A present or gratuity given at Christmas: in Great Britain, usually confined to gratuities given to those who are supposed to have a vague claim upon the donor for services rendered to him as one of the general public by whom they are employed and paid, or as a customer of their legal employer; the undefined theory being that as they have done offices for this person, for which he has not directly paid them, some direct acknowledgement is becoming at Christmas.

In Britain, it was a custom for tradesmen to collect «Christmas boxes» of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year.^[11] This is mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ diary entry for 19 December 1663.^[12] This custom is linked to an older British tradition where the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families since they would have had to serve their masters on Christmas Day. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses, and sometimes leftover food. Until the late 20th century, there continued to be a tradition among many in the UK to give a Christmas gift, usually cash, to vendors, although not on Boxing Day, as many would not work on that day.^[13]

In South Africa, vendors who normally have little interaction with those they serve are accustomed to knocking on the customers’ doors to ask for a «Christmas box», being a small cash donation, in the weeks before or after Christmas. This practice has become controversial, and some municipalities ban staff from asking for Christmas boxes.^[14]

Date[edit]

Saint Stephen’s Day, a religious holiday, also falls on 26th December.^[15][16]

Unlike the contemporary understanding of Boxing Day itself, the bank holiday or public holiday associated with the observance always falls on a weekday. Where 25 December falls on a Saturday and 26 December falls on a Sunday, the Christmas Day substitute holiday always takes place on Monday 27 December, while the Boxing Day substitute holiday always takes place on Tuesday 28 December. When Christmas Day is a Sunday, the Boxing Day holiday is still on the 26th, while Tuesday 27 December is the substitute holiday for Christmas Day.^[17]

Status by country[edit]

In Australia, Boxing Day is a public holiday in all jurisdictions except the state of South Australia, where a public holiday known as Proclamation Day is celebrated on the first weekday after Christmas Day or the Christmas Day holiday.^[18] 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 Canada, Boxing Day (French: le Lendemain de Noël) is a federal statutory holiday. Government offices, banks, and postal services are closed. In Ontario, and other Canadian provinces, it is a provincial statutory holiday.

In Hong Kong, despite the transfer of sovereignty from the UK to China in 1997, Boxing Day is a general holiday as the first weekday after Christmas.^[19][20]

In Ireland, when the entire island was part of the United Kingdom, the Bank Holidays Act 1871 established the feast day of Saint Stephen as a non-moveable public holiday on 26 December.^[21] Following partition in 1920, Northern Ireland reverted to the British name, Boxing Day. In County Donegal, particularly in East Donegal and Inishowen, the day is also popularly known as Boxing Day.^[22][23][24]

In New Zealand, Boxing Day is a statutory holiday. On these holidays, people who must work receive 1+1⁄2 times their salaries, and a day in lieu is provided to employees who work.^[25]

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.^[26]

In Scotland, Boxing Day has been specified as an additional bank holiday since 1974, by royal proclamation under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971.^[27][28]

In Singapore, Boxing Day was a public holiday for working people and students; when it fell on a Saturday or Sunday, there was a holiday on Monday. However, Boxing Day is no longer a public holiday.^[29]

In South Africa, 26 December is the Day of Goodwill, a public holiday.^[30]

In Trinidad and Tobago, Boxing Day is a public holiday.^[31]

In the UK outside Scotland, 26 December (unless it is a Sunday) has been a bank holiday since 1871. When 26 December falls on a Saturday, the associated public holiday is on the following Monday. When 26 December falls on a Sunday, the public holiday is the following Tuesday, Monday being the public holiday associated with Christmas Day. The same practice is observed in Canada.^[32]

In the British overseas territory of Bermuda, the costumed Gombey dancers perform throughout the mid-Atlantic island on Boxing Day, a tradition believed to date back to the 18th century when slaves were permitted to gather at Christmastime.^[33]

In Massachusetts, US, Governor William F. Weld declared in 1996 that every 26 December is Boxing Day, in response to the efforts of a coalition of British citizens to «transport the English tradition to the United States»,^[34] but not an employee holiday.^[35]

Shopping[edit]

In the United Kingdom,^[36] Canada,^[37] Australia,^[38] Trinidad and Tobago, and New Zealand,^[39] Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. Boxing Day sales are common and shops often allow dramatic price reductions. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest revenue. In the UK, it was estimated in 2009 that up to 12 million shoppers appeared at the sales (a rise of almost 20% compared to 2008, although this was also affected by the fact that the VAT was about to revert to 17.5% from 1 January, following the temporary reduction to 15%).^[40]

Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. It is not uncommon for long queues to form early in the morning of 26 December, hours before the opening of shops holding the big sales, especially at big-box consumer electronics retailers.^[37] Many stores have a limited quantity of big draw or deeply discounted items.^[41] Because of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay at home and avoid the hectic shopping experience. Local media often covers the event, mentioning how early the shoppers began queuing up and showing videos of shoppers queuing and later leaving with their purchased items.^[42] Many retailers have implemented practices aimed at managing large numbers of shoppers. They may limit entrances, restrict the number of patrons in a store at a time, provide tickets to people at the head of the queue to guarantee them a hot ticket item, or canvass queued-up shoppers to inform them of inventory limitations.^[41]

In some areas of Canada, particularly in Atlantic Canada and parts of Northern Ontario, most retailers are prohibited from opening on Boxing Day, either by provincial law or by municipal bylaw, or by informal agreement among major retailers, to provide a day of relaxation following Christmas Day. In these areas, sales otherwise scheduled for 26 December are moved to the 27th.^[43][44] The city council of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, which was the largest city in Canada to maintain this restriction as of the early 2010s, formally repealed its store hours bylaw on 9 December 2014.^[45]

While Boxing Day is 26 December, many retailers run the sales for several days before or after 26 December, often up to New Year’s Eve, branding it as «Boxing Week». Notably, in the recession of late 2008, a record number of retailers held early promotions due to a weak economy.^[46] In 2009, many retailers with both online and High Street stores launched their online sales on Christmas Eve and their High Street sales on Boxing Day.^[47][48]

Comparisons to Black Friday[edit]

In terms of seasonal or holiday shopping traditions, Boxing Day sales have been compared to the U.S. phenomenon of Black Friday sales  –  Black Friday being the Friday following the American Thanksgiving holiday in late November. In the late 2000s, when the Canadian and United States dollars were near parity, Canadian retailers began to hold Black Friday promotions to attract consumers who would otherwise travel across the border to visit United States stores. This may have been a contributory factor, since 2013, in a relative decline of traditional Canadian Boxing Day sales, when compared to sales on Black Friday.^[49]

The traditional Boxing Day sales in the United Kingdom were never as large an event as the Black Friday sales are in the United States. However, many British retailers began to see an opportunity to import the Black Friday tradition into the UK, not to replace Boxing Day sales, but as an addition to their overall seasonal promotions. However, Black Friday and Boxing Day are close enough together that spending on one sale was likely to affect spending on the other. Ultimately, the result was a marked decline in traditional Boxing Day sales in the UK. The change was initially facilitated, although not necessarily by design, by the fact that many retailers had American ownership, such as Amazon. This phenomenon was furthered by a general decline in traditional high-street shopping, and a growing online marketplace, which is more internationalist by nature. This led, in 2015, to November retail sales in the UK overtaking sales in December for the first time.^[50][51] In 2019, a retail analysis firm estimated that there was a 9.8% drop in British store traffic on Boxing Day in comparison to 2018 (the largest year-over-year drop since 2010), citing several factors, such as the weather, the increased prominence of online shopping, uncertainties in the wake of the general election, and the growing prominence of Black Friday sales.^[52]

Boxing Day sales are not a prominent tradition in the United States, although many retailers often begin after-Christmas sales that day. It is typically the earliest starting day after Christmas for people to return unwanted gifts for exchanges or refunds, and to redeem gift cards.^[53]

Sport[edit]

In the United Kingdom, it is traditional for all top-tier football leagues in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – the Premier League, the Scottish Premiership, and the NIFL Premiership – and the lower ones, as well as the rugby leagues, to hold a full programme of football matches on Boxing Day. Originally, matches on Boxing Day were played against local rivals to avoid teams and their fans having to travel a long distance to an away game on the day after Christmas Day. Before the formation of leagues, several traditional rugby union fixtures took place on Boxing Day each year, notably Llanelli v London Welsh and Leicester v The Barbarians.^{[citation needed]} The 2022 Premier League Boxing Day fixtures see the return to domestic top flight football for the 2022-23 Premier League season, following the six-week break due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.^[54]

In Italy, Boxing Day football was played for the first time in the 2018/19 Serie A season. The experiment was successful, with Italian stadiums 69% full on average – more than any other match day in December 2018.^[55]

In rugby league, festive fixtures were a staple of the traditional winter season. Since the transition to a summer season in the 1990s, no formal fixtures are now arranged on Boxing Day but some clubs, such as Wakefield Trinity, arrange a traditional local derby friendly fixture instead.

In Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, Test cricket matches are played on Boxing Day. For more details see Boxing Day Test.^[56]

In Australia, the first day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is on Boxing Day.^[57]

In horse racing, there is the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park Racecourse in Surrey, England. It is the second most prestigious chase in Britain, after the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In addition to the prestigious race at Kempton, in Britain, it is usually the day with the highest number of racing meetings of the year, with eight in 2016, in addition to three more in Ireland.^[58] In Barbados, the final day of horse racing is held on Boxing Day at The Historic Garrison Savannah, a UNESCO world heritage site. This tradition has been going on for decades in this former British colony.

Boxing Day is one of the main days in the hunting calendar for hunts in the UK and US, with most hunts (both mounted foxhound or harrier packs and foot packs of beagles or bassets) holding meets, often in town or village centres.^[59]

Several ice hockey contests are associated with the day. The IIHF World Junior Championship typically begins on 26 December, while the Spengler Cup also begins on 23 December in Davos, Switzerland; the Spengler Cup competition includes HC Davos, Team Canada, and other top European Hockey teams. The National Hockey League traditionally had close to a full slate of games (10 were played in 2011^[60]), following the league-wide days off given for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However, the 2013 collective bargaining agreement (which followed a lock-out) extended the league mandate of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off to include Boxing Day, except when it falls on a Saturday, in which case the league can choose to make 23 December a league-wide off day instead for that year.^[61]

In some African Commonwealth nations, particularly Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania, professional boxing contests are held on Boxing Day. This practice has also been followed for decades in Guyana and Italy.^[62]

A notable tradition in Sweden is Annandagsbandy, which formerly marked the start of the bandy season and always draws large crowds. Games traditionally begin at 1:15 pm.^[63]

Boxing Day Tsunami[edit]

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami occurred the day after Christmas, and therefore has been referred to as «the Boxing Day Tsunami».^[64]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Origins of Boxing Day at Snopes

«Christmas box» redirects here. For the genus of shrubs, see Sarcococca.

Boxing Day
Boxing Day crowds shopping at Toronto’s Eaton Centre.
Also called	Offering Day[1]
Observed by	Commonwealth nations
Type	Bank holiday, public holiday
Date	26 December
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Day of Goodwill Saint Stephen’s Day (concurrent) Second Day of Christmastide

Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December).^[1] Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to poor people, today Boxing Day forms part of Christmas celebrations, with many people choosing to take advantage of Boxing Day sales. It originated in Great Britain and is celebrated in several countries that previously formed part of the British Empire. The attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place on 28 December if necessary to ensure it falls on a weekday. Boxing Day is also concurrent with the Christian festival Saint Stephen’s Day.

In parts of Europe, such as several regions of Spain,^[2][3] the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Slovakia,^[4] Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, and Ireland, 26 December is Saint Stephen’s Day, which is considered the second day of Christmas.^[5]

Etymology[edit]

There are competing theories for the origins of the term, none of which is definitive.^[6]

The European tradition of giving money and other gifts to those in need, or in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown; it may reference the alms box placed in the narthex of Christian churches to collect donations for the poor. The tradition may come from a custom in the late Roman/early Christian era wherein alms boxes placed in churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen,^[7] which, in the Western Christian Churches, falls on the same day as Boxing Day, the second day of Christmastide. On this day, it is customary in some localities for the alms boxes to be opened and distributed to the poor.^[1][8]

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest attestation from Britain in 1743, defining it as «the day after Christmas day», and saying «traditionally on this day tradespeople, employees, etc., would receive presents or gratuities (a «Christmas box») from their customers or employers.»^[9]

The term «Christmas box»^[10] dates back to the 17th century, and among other things meant:

A present or gratuity given at Christmas: in Great Britain, usually confined to gratuities given to those who are supposed to have a vague claim upon the donor for services rendered to him as one of the general public by whom they are employed and paid, or as a customer of their legal employer; the undefined theory being that as they have done offices for this person, for which he has not directly paid them, some direct acknowledgement is becoming at Christmas.

In Britain, it was a custom for tradesmen to collect «Christmas boxes» of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year.^[11] This is mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ diary entry for 19 December 1663.^[12] This custom is linked to an older British tradition where the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families since they would have had to serve their masters on Christmas Day. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses, and sometimes leftover food. Until the late 20th century, there continued to be a tradition among many in the UK to give a Christmas gift, usually cash, to vendors, although not on Boxing Day, as many would not work on that day.^[13]

In South Africa, vendors who normally have little interaction with those they serve are accustomed to knocking on the customers’ doors to ask for a «Christmas box», being a small cash donation, in the weeks before or after Christmas. This practice has become controversial, and some municipalities ban staff from asking for Christmas boxes.^[14]

Date[edit]

Saint Stephen’s Day, a religious holiday, also falls on 26th December.^[15][16]

Unlike the contemporary understanding of Boxing Day itself, the bank holiday or public holiday associated with the observance always falls on a weekday. Where 25 December falls on a Saturday and 26 December falls on a Sunday, the Christmas Day substitute holiday always takes place on Monday 27 December, while the Boxing Day substitute holiday always takes place on Tuesday 28 December. When Christmas Day is a Sunday, the Boxing Day holiday is still on the 26th, while Tuesday 27 December is the substitute holiday for Christmas Day.^[17]

Status by country[edit]

In Australia, Boxing Day is a public holiday in all jurisdictions except the state of South Australia, where a public holiday known as Proclamation Day is celebrated on the first weekday after Christmas Day or the Christmas Day holiday.^[18] 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 Canada, Boxing Day (French: le Lendemain de Noël) is a federal statutory holiday. Government offices, banks, and postal services are closed. In Ontario, and other Canadian provinces, it is a provincial statutory holiday.

In Hong Kong, despite the transfer of sovereignty from the UK to China in 1997, Boxing Day is a general holiday as the first weekday after Christmas.^[19][20]

In Ireland, when the entire island was part of the United Kingdom, the Bank Holidays Act 1871 established the feast day of Saint Stephen as a non-moveable public holiday on 26 December.^[21] Following partition in 1920, Northern Ireland reverted to the British name, Boxing Day. In County Donegal, particularly in East Donegal and Inishowen, the day is also popularly known as Boxing Day.^[22][23][24]

In New Zealand, Boxing Day is a statutory holiday. On these holidays, people who must work receive 1+1⁄2 times their salaries, and a day in lieu is provided to employees who work.^[25]

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.^[26]

In Scotland, Boxing Day has been specified as an additional bank holiday since 1974, by royal proclamation under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971.^[27][28]

In Singapore, Boxing Day was a public holiday for working people and students; when it fell on a Saturday or Sunday, there was a holiday on Monday. However, Boxing Day is no longer a public holiday.^[29]

In South Africa, 26 December is the Day of Goodwill, a public holiday.^[30]

In Trinidad and Tobago, Boxing Day is a public holiday.^[31]

In the UK outside Scotland, 26 December (unless it is a Sunday) has been a bank holiday since 1871. When 26 December falls on a Saturday, the associated public holiday is on the following Monday. When 26 December falls on a Sunday, the public holiday is the following Tuesday, Monday being the public holiday associated with Christmas Day. The same practice is observed in Canada.^[32]

In the British overseas territory of Bermuda, the costumed Gombey dancers perform throughout the mid-Atlantic island on Boxing Day, a tradition believed to date back to the 18th century when slaves were permitted to gather at Christmastime.^[33]

In Massachusetts, US, Governor William F. Weld declared in 1996 that every 26 December is Boxing Day, in response to the efforts of a coalition of British citizens to «transport the English tradition to the United States»,^[34] but not an employee holiday.^[35]

Shopping[edit]

In the United Kingdom,^[36] Canada,^[37] Australia,^[38] Trinidad and Tobago, and New Zealand,^[39] Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. Boxing Day sales are common and shops often allow dramatic price reductions. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest revenue. In the UK, it was estimated in 2009 that up to 12 million shoppers appeared at the sales (a rise of almost 20% compared to 2008, although this was also affected by the fact that the VAT was about to revert to 17.5% from 1 January, following the temporary reduction to 15%).^[40]

Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. It is not uncommon for long queues to form early in the morning of 26 December, hours before the opening of shops holding the big sales, especially at big-box consumer electronics retailers.^[37] Many stores have a limited quantity of big draw or deeply discounted items.^[41] Because of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay at home and avoid the hectic shopping experience. Local media often covers the event, mentioning how early the shoppers began queuing up and showing videos of shoppers queuing and later leaving with their purchased items.^[42] Many retailers have implemented practices aimed at managing large numbers of shoppers. They may limit entrances, restrict the number of patrons in a store at a time, provide tickets to people at the head of the queue to guarantee them a hot ticket item, or canvass queued-up shoppers to inform them of inventory limitations.^[41]

In some areas of Canada, particularly in Atlantic Canada and parts of Northern Ontario, most retailers are prohibited from opening on Boxing Day, either by provincial law or by municipal bylaw, or by informal agreement among major retailers, to provide a day of relaxation following Christmas Day. In these areas, sales otherwise scheduled for 26 December are moved to the 27th.^[43][44] The city council of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, which was the largest city in Canada to maintain this restriction as of the early 2010s, formally repealed its store hours bylaw on 9 December 2014.^[45]

While Boxing Day is 26 December, many retailers run the sales for several days before or after 26 December, often up to New Year’s Eve, branding it as «Boxing Week». Notably, in the recession of late 2008, a record number of retailers held early promotions due to a weak economy.^[46] In 2009, many retailers with both online and High Street stores launched their online sales on Christmas Eve and their High Street sales on Boxing Day.^[47][48]

Comparisons to Black Friday[edit]

In terms of seasonal or holiday shopping traditions, Boxing Day sales have been compared to the U.S. phenomenon of Black Friday sales  –  Black Friday being the Friday following the American Thanksgiving holiday in late November. In the late 2000s, when the Canadian and United States dollars were near parity, Canadian retailers began to hold Black Friday promotions to attract consumers who would otherwise travel across the border to visit United States stores. This may have been a contributory factor, since 2013, in a relative decline of traditional Canadian Boxing Day sales, when compared to sales on Black Friday.^[49]

The traditional Boxing Day sales in the United Kingdom were never as large an event as the Black Friday sales are in the United States. However, many British retailers began to see an opportunity to import the Black Friday tradition into the UK, not to replace Boxing Day sales, but as an addition to their overall seasonal promotions. However, Black Friday and Boxing Day are close enough together that spending on one sale was likely to affect spending on the other. Ultimately, the result was a marked decline in traditional Boxing Day sales in the UK. The change was initially facilitated, although not necessarily by design, by the fact that many retailers had American ownership, such as Amazon. This phenomenon was furthered by a general decline in traditional high-street shopping, and a growing online marketplace, which is more internationalist by nature. This led, in 2015, to November retail sales in the UK overtaking sales in December for the first time.^[50][51] In 2019, a retail analysis firm estimated that there was a 9.8% drop in British store traffic on Boxing Day in comparison to 2018 (the largest year-over-year drop since 2010), citing several factors, such as the weather, the increased prominence of online shopping, uncertainties in the wake of the general election, and the growing prominence of Black Friday sales.^[52]

Boxing Day sales are not a prominent tradition in the United States, although many retailers often begin after-Christmas sales that day. It is typically the earliest starting day after Christmas for people to return unwanted gifts for exchanges or refunds, and to redeem gift cards.^[53]

Sport[edit]

In the United Kingdom, it is traditional for all top-tier football leagues in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – the Premier League, the Scottish Premiership, and the NIFL Premiership – and the lower ones, as well as the rugby leagues, to hold a full programme of football matches on Boxing Day. Originally, matches on Boxing Day were played against local rivals to avoid teams and their fans having to travel a long distance to an away game on the day after Christmas Day. Before the formation of leagues, several traditional rugby union fixtures took place on Boxing Day each year, notably Llanelli v London Welsh and Leicester v The Barbarians.^{[citation needed]} The 2022 Premier League Boxing Day fixtures see the return to domestic top flight football for the 2022-23 Premier League season, following the six-week break due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.^[54]

In Italy, Boxing Day football was played for the first time in the 2018/19 Serie A season. The experiment was successful, with Italian stadiums 69% full on average – more than any other match day in December 2018.^[55]

In rugby league, festive fixtures were a staple of the traditional winter season. Since the transition to a summer season in the 1990s, no formal fixtures are now arranged on Boxing Day but some clubs, such as Wakefield Trinity, arrange a traditional local derby friendly fixture instead.

In Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, Test cricket matches are played on Boxing Day. For more details see Boxing Day Test.^[56]

In Australia, the first day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is on Boxing Day.^[57]

In horse racing, there is the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park Racecourse in Surrey, England. It is the second most prestigious chase in Britain, after the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In addition to the prestigious race at Kempton, in Britain, it is usually the day with the highest number of racing meetings of the year, with eight in 2016, in addition to three more in Ireland.^[58] In Barbados, the final day of horse racing is held on Boxing Day at The Historic Garrison Savannah, a UNESCO world heritage site. This tradition has been going on for decades in this former British colony.

Boxing Day is one of the main days in the hunting calendar for hunts in the UK and US, with most hunts (both mounted foxhound or harrier packs and foot packs of beagles or bassets) holding meets, often in town or village centres.^[59]

Several ice hockey contests are associated with the day. The IIHF World Junior Championship typically begins on 26 December, while the Spengler Cup also begins on 23 December in Davos, Switzerland; the Spengler Cup competition includes HC Davos, Team Canada, and other top European Hockey teams. The National Hockey League traditionally had close to a full slate of games (10 were played in 2011^[60]), following the league-wide days off given for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However, the 2013 collective bargaining agreement (which followed a lock-out) extended the league mandate of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off to include Boxing Day, except when it falls on a Saturday, in which case the league can choose to make 23 December a league-wide off day instead for that year.^[61]

In some African Commonwealth nations, particularly Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania, professional boxing contests are held on Boxing Day. This practice has also been followed for decades in Guyana and Italy.^[62]

A notable tradition in Sweden is Annandagsbandy, which formerly marked the start of the bandy season and always draws large crowds. Games traditionally begin at 1:15 pm.^[63]

Boxing Day Tsunami[edit]

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami occurred the day after Christmas, and therefore has been referred to as «the Boxing Day Tsunami».^[64]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Origins of Boxing Day at Snopes

Дарить и получать подарки очень приятно, для этого даже выделен специальный день, который именуется Днем подарков. Он ежегодно отмечается 26 декабря. Этот международный праздник появился в Великобритании, где считается официально выходным днем. Дата торжества выбрана не случайно – она приходится на вторые сутки католического Рождества.

История возникновения праздника

Впервые День подарков появился в 18 веке. Если переводить название праздника с английского языка дословно, оно будет звучать как «День коробок» («Boxing day»). Если праздник выпадает на выходной день (воскресенье или субботу), то празднование переносится на первые рабочие сутки после новогодних каникул, тем самым продлевая их. В этот день принято оказывать благотворительную помощь, дарить подарки друг другу, устраивать увеселительные мероприятия и просто наслаждаться общением с близкими людьми.

Раньше люди проводили этот день весело, устраивая спортивные состязания, танцы, участвуя в разнообразных играх, охоте на лис. Каждая богатая семья привозила в церковь большую корзину подарков, упакованных в праздничные коробки. Дары были предназначены для людей, которые не могли позволить себе приятные покупки. Знатные люди одаривали своих домашних работников, предоставляя им дополнительный день для полноценного отдыха. Купцы старались наградить рабочих, предоставляли им выходной.

В современном обществе празднование этого торжества изменилось. Сегодня праздник стал дополнительным поводом вручения презентов родным и близким людям, доставляя им приятные эмоции.

Во многих магазинах начинаются колоссальные распродажи с огромными скидками на товары (до 80%), подобные Черной пятнице в США, которая традиционно проводится в конце ноября. Для этого люди с самого раннего утра занимают очередь, а мелкие торговцы начинают свою работу значительно раньше. В этот день можно наблюдать толпы людей, выходящих из магазинов с коробками в руках, а почтальонам приходится доставлять миллионы поздравительных открыток адресатам.

Существует 2 варианта возникновения этого праздника. В первом говорится о специальной коробке (Christmas Box), которую использовали для накопления чаевых. Один раз в год ее открывали, чтобы достать все накопившиеся средства. Подобные боксы находились во многих мастерских, а сбережения поровну делили между всеми, кто работал в них. В современном мире День подарков в Великобритании и некоторых других странах (Канаде, Норвегии, Австралии, Новой Зеландии) отмечается схожим образом: все нуждающиеся получают в этот день пищу и вещи.

Во второй истории говорится о коробках, которые оставались после распаковки подарков на следующий день после католического Рождества. Все, что оставалось после рождественского обеда, сувениры и ненужные вещи упаковывали в свободные картонные боксы и раздавали нуждающимся. Также в этот день слуги получали от своих хозяев упаковки с вещами и сладостями. Впоследствии это мероприятие получило название – День подарков.

Традиции празднования

Практически сразу после возникновения День подарков начали праздновать во многих странах, где уже сформировались свои традиции проведения этого дня. Например, в Норвегии жители предпочитают отмечать праздник в дружеском кругу, наслаждаясь танцами, играми, пением и любимым видом пива. Во многих магазинах перед этим днем начинаются распродажи.

Мексиканцы организовывают карнавальные фестивали, во время циркового шествия люди, переодетые в сказочных героев, подбрасывают мелкие монеты в воздух, угощают сладостями детей и даруют небольшие сувениры на память присутствующим.

В африканских государствах в День подарков городские жители дарят коллегам галстук голубого или синего цвета, а также обмениваются с родственниками и близкими людьми самодельными сувенирами. В сельской местности родные и соседи одаривают друг друга домашним скотом.

Датчане для празднования устраивают соревнования, по окончании которых, ни один участник не уходит без приза. На Ямайке люди устраивают пляжные вечеринки, ходят на боксерские матчи.

Жители Канады и Америки проводят День подарков в узком семейном кругу, не выходя из дома, устраивая праздничное застолье и подготавливая небольшие подарки для родных. Их содержимое намекает на вид презента, который будет находиться под елкой в наступающем году.

Австралийцы и маори (жители Новой Зеландии) организовывают гонки шлюпок, собачьи бега и конные скачки. В вечернее время в этих странах принято устраивать тематические мероприятия: лотереи, викторины, розыгрыши, фанты с вручением небольших призов за участие. В Австралии в этот день ежегодно проводится тестовый матч по крикету, где жители этой страны играют против другого государства.

В России этот праздник впервые начали отмечать в 1997 году, по поводу которого в Москве прошли торжественные мероприятия с различными конкурсами, победителям которых были вручены ценные подарки и оригинальные памятные сувениры, изготовленные для Дня подарков.

На сегодняшний день жители России не стали перенимать традиции празднования этого торжества из других стран, отмечают его по своему усмотрению. Единственная тенденция, которая ежегодно прослеживается у россиян в эту дату – обязательный обмен мелкими памятными сувенирами и открытками между коллегами на работе. Иногда мужчины преподносят женщинам упаковки шоколадных сладостей, цветы, а они, в свою очередь презентуют коллегам алкоголь: коньяк или виски.

Интересные факты

Известно несколько занимательных фактов, связанных с Днем подарков:

1. В 2006 году в этот день в Филадельфии мужчина, пожелавший остаться неизвестным, купил в одном из крупных гипермаркетов более 12 тысяч абсолютно разных, неповторяющихся подарков на сумму около 4 млн долларов.
2. Японцы во время торжества традиционно преподносят синтоистским божествам дары, надеясь на успех во всех сферах в будущем году.
3. В Африке (малом государстве Бурунди) 26 декабря местному королю ежегодно торжественно подбирают новую жену в его гарем. Для этого тысячи девушек приезжают к нему с подарками, презентуя предполагаемому будущему мужу блюда, приготовленные самостоятельно, украшения или вещи.

На 26 декабря выпадает еще один праздник – День Святого Стефана, который известен статусом 1-ого христианского мученика и своим служением обездоленным людям.

Хоть День подарков и не отмечен красным цветом в календаре, и в России не принято устраивать масштабные мероприятия в этот день, тем не менее, торжество является отличным поводом порадовать своих родных, близких, друзей и коллег. Даже поздравительная открытка и небольшой памятный сувенир вызовут улыбку и теплые чувства у даруемого.

Интересный и прекрасный праздник подарков или День коробок (Boxing Day) — торжество родом из Великобритании, отмечаемое также в Австралии, Канаде и Новой Зеландии, странах Южной Африки и даже на Багамах. В календаре эта дата отмечена 26 декабря, на следующий день после католического Рождества.

Народ, живущий в этих странах, любит День подарков, поскольку к этой знаменательной дате магазины и торговые центры всегда готовят глобальные распродажи и огромные скидки. Покупку обычно откладывают до сегодня, чтобы купить желаемое за полцены.

День коробок или Boxing Day официально признали как значимый праздник еще в прошлом веке, а самые ранние письменные сведения о нем датируются 1830 годом. Есть теория, что корни данной традиции уходят значительно глубже — у средневековой знати существовал обычай выплачивать своим слугам своеобразную «годовую премию» за работу – единоразовую оплату на следующий день после Рождества. Также, в храмах 26 декабря устанавливались специальные коробки, в которые прихожане «бросали» пожертвования для малоимущих людей. Служители церкви потом раздавали их «по назначению».

Как и в далекие времена, сейчас этот день также начинается с обычая одаривать бедных людей подарками в коробках или жертвовать деньги, а принимать и приносить дары близким и родным обычно принято в канун Рождества. Эти два праздничных дня подряд — Рождество и День подарков — стали основой для образования традиции собираться семьями.

Традиции и мероприятия в день подарков

В День подарков, 26 декабря, практически во всех магазинах и торговых центрах стартует сезон больших скидок. Рабочий день у них начнется очень рано, но уже к открытию ко входу стекаются нетерпеливые покупатели, стремящиеся как можно ранее приобрести желаемый товар с привлекательным ценником. Но не только распродажами привлекателен этот праздник – его любят и ценят за возможность провести еще один день в кругу семьи, не торопясь доедать рождественский ужин.

Австралийцы в этот день обычно проводят еще и спортивные турниры, на это значимое событие съезжается много гостей, так как по интенсивности эти соревнования практически идентичны церемониям дня ANZAC. Сидней, например, собирает спортсменов для прохождения ежегодной гонки на яхтах, называемой Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, а в городе Мельбурн проводится тестовый матч на основном поле для крикета.

Католики, к слову, также отмечают праздник, аналогичный Дню подарков 26 декабря. Он называется днем Святого Стефана, который имеет схожие с Boxing Day традиции.

Чем заняться в День подарков

Совершенно реально при желании принять участие в спортивных соревнованиях, отправиться на конные скачки короля Георга VI (на ипподроме Кемптон-парка, Суррей) или посетить автогонки на стадионе «Уимблдон» в Лондоне. Можно присоединиться к купальщикам и нырнуть в волны океана – такие купания также являются традиционными для Дня подарков.

Все проводимые 26 декабря мероприятия рассматриваются как благотворительные, поэтому не стоит упускать возможность поддержать доброе начинание. Если есть желание сделать что-то конкретное для помощи нуждающимся, то неплохо будет пожертвовать какую-то сумму денег в церкви или побыть донором — сдать кровь в больнице. Этот день является одним из самых подходящих для того, чтобы делать добрые дела – их свершение оставляет необыкновенный шлейф удовлетворенности на долгое время.