The 26th December, that is the day after Christmas Day, is Boxing Day.
This day is celebrated in the UK and in many English speaking countries all over the world. In fact, in the United Kingdom Boxing Day is a bank holiday nowadays.
The origins of the celebration are not very clear and they trace back to the Middle Ages. At that period, upper class people with servants or employees gave them presents the day after Christmas Day. Many times they received money, food,... in a small box. Other times, they were given the day off to visit their families and to take them boxes with presents.
The Christmas Carol, Good King Wencelas, is set on Boxing Day and it is about a king who brings food to a poor family. We mustn't forget that St. Stephen is celebrated on this day and according to the Catholic tradition this saint helped the poor. So it has a strong connection to Boxing Day.
Today Boxing Day is a shopping day, more or less in the same way as Black Friday. In some countries this day lasts a week!! So this is called to the period during Christmas when people can have great discounts before New Year's Eve. It is the start of post-Christmas sales.
It is also an important day for sports events. Foxhunting was a popular sport among the upper class in the old times so it is very common to see the traditional picture of hunters and dogs on this day. But, as foxhunting is now forbidden, the sports events have focused on soccer, horse racing or rugby.
