Rubber duck race for Boxing Day

© Jessica Lynn Culver/Getty Image

Happy Boxing Day!. The rubber ducks (and other quirky customs) of Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day! Traditionally a day of sport and sales shopping, the day after Christmas also attracts a number of unusual customs. What better way to shake off festive indulgence than watching hundreds, if not thousands, of yellow plastic ducks float downstream for charity? Bibury, in the Cotswolds, hosts two races on the River Coln – one with more realistic decoy ducks, and another with the plastic yellow variety pictured here. Banwell in Somerset and Kenilworth in Warwickshire are among other English towns and villages hosting annual Boxing Day duck races – which are also a tradition elsewhere on New Year’s Day and the Easter weekend.

Back to Boxing Day though, and there’s no shortage of other unusual traditions across the UK. For some, December is the perfect time for a dip in freezing UK waters, ideally in fancy dress, while raft races, barrel rolling and wheelbarrow races are not unheard of across the country. However, for many of us the bank holiday will simply be spent relaxing with family and eating leftovers, after the excitement of Christmas Day.