Boxing Day · Provisional

Boxing Day is the December 26 holiday used in The Gambia’s modern presidential holiday practice; this 2026 calendar entry remains provisional until the year-end declaration is issued. The name comes from British holiday tradition rather than a distinct Gambian religious feast. Residents may continue family visits, rest after Christmas or use the day for social and sporting activity, while many people do not attach a specific ceremony to it.

The Office of the President’s 2021 standardisation list included Boxing Day, and its December 2025 release expressly declared December 26 that year. The government’s general important-dates page and the older statute’s fixed-day list omit it, showing why it should be described as recurring executive practice rather than an unqualified statutory entitlement.

Boxing Day is not among the holidays identified in commentary on the old Public Holidays Act. As of the August 30 research cut-off, no 2026 Christmas proclamation had yet confirmed Saturday, December 26; the date is therefore shown provisionally from the standing executive list and recent declaration practice. The Labour Act 2023 recognises remuneration for public holidays and preserves a public holiday that falls during annual leave, but it does not by itself turn every named commemoration into a holiday. The 2021 presidential advisory says a Monday will be declared when a public holiday falls on Saturday or Sunday; because that wording anticipates a declaration, users should still check the dated State House notice rather than assume an automatic statutory substitute.