Ireland
In Ireland, Boxing Day is also the feast of the Christian martyr St. Stephen, as mentioned in the carol Good King Wenceslas, and it is celebrated as a public holiday. Family members spend time popping into each others' houses as part of an extended Christmas celebration. This day also coincides with a pagan festival, Wren Day, that is a nod to the penal days in Ireland and involves parades and people dressed in straw collecting money for the poor.
+© Shutterstock / Iakov Filimonov