Boxing Day in 🇦🇺 Australia

Boxing Day in Australia is a public holiday that holds a special place in the national calendar, largely thanks to the start of the famous Boxing Day Test cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The MCG fills with up to 90,000 spectators on the first day, and the match has become as much a part of Australian Christmas tradition as the holiday itself. The roar of the crowd on a warm December day is quintessentially Australian.

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race also begins on Boxing Day, with competitors setting sail from Sydney Harbour in one of the world's most challenging ocean races. Spectators line the harbour and headlands to watch the fleet depart, and the race is broadcast nationally.

Shopping is another Boxing Day institution. The post-Christmas sales draw enormous crowds to shopping centers across the country, with Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne and Westfield Sydney among the busiest. Australians spend billions on Boxing Day bargains, and some shoppers camp out overnight for the best deals.

Beyond sport and shopping, many Australians spend Boxing Day at the beach or in parks, continuing the Christmas holiday in the summer sunshine. Barbecues with leftover ham, cold seafood, and pavlova are common. For those who celebrated Christmas with one side of the family, Boxing Day is often when they visit the other side.

Public holiday on December 26 in Commonwealth nations, traditionally a day for giving gifts to servants and the poor, now associated with shopping sales and sporting events.