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Who brings the presents in Britain, and when do you open them?
In Britain the presents come from Father Christmas, often just called Santa, in the night between Thursday 24 and Friday 25 December 2026. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday this year, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December.
Who brings the presents, and when
Father Christmas
25 December
Who brings the presents, and when
Father Christmas · 25 December
Father Christmas began as an English figure of feasting, first recorded in the mid-seventeenth century as a symbol of the good old days after the Civil War. For centuries he had nothing to do with children or presents. Santa Claus arrived from America in the 1850s, and the two names merged until, by the 1880s, the night-time gift-bringer was called either. Today dictionaries treat them as the same man, with Father Christmas sounding a little more traditional. Children hang a stocking or put out a sack, and what he leaves is there on Christmas morning.
When presents are opened
Father Christmas visits in the night of Thursday 24 December, and children find a stocking and gifts on the morning of Friday 25 December 2026. That is the day most British households open presents, usually at home before the family sits down to dinner. Gifts between adults often wait until the same morning or are opened after the meal.
This order is not an old rule. Accounts from the 1850s already describe children finding presents in the morning, and the story of an overnight visitor came from the American Santa tradition. Before that, Father Christmas was an adult festival figure and the gifts had no fixed night.
Father Christmas or Santa?
Both names are live and both are correct. Father Christmas is the older English name and the one used in the Royal Mail address; Santa is the shorter, American one that most children use. The two figures grew together through the Victorian period, so there is no separate British gift-bringer, and nobody in a British house will think you have got it wrong whichever you say.
The Royal Mail letter to Santa
Royal Mail takes children's letters addressed to Santa or Father Christmas, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ. The Welsh address is Sion Corn, Ogof Sion Corn, Gwlad y Ceirw, XM4 5HQ. Put a stamp on the envelope, write the address clearly, and put the child's name and address on the back so a reply can reach them.
Royal Mail's own page gives Wednesday 9 December 2026 as the last day to post. It says it will try to reply to as many children as it can, which is not a promise to answer every letter. This year there are replies in British Sign Language, and Braille and large-print replies can be requested at santamail@royalmail.com. Post early.
Boxing Day and the bank holidays
Christmas Day is Friday 25 December and New Year's Day is Friday 1 January 2027. Because 26 December is a Saturday, Boxing Day is observed on Monday 28 December in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scotland also takes Monday 4 January 2027 in place of 2 January.
Boxing Day is a British invention: the earliest record in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1743. It may come from the Christmas boxes given to tradespeople, or from church alms boxes. Today it means sales, a full programme of football fixtures, and cold turkey in a sandwich or a curry.
The season at a glance
Advent Sundays fall on 29 November and 6, 13 and 20 December 2026. The dates a household plans around are Wednesday 9 December (the Royal Mail letter deadline), Thursday 24 December, Friday 25 December and Monday 28 December. Use the countdown page for the wait, and the dinner plan for the meal itself.
Advent and bank holidays 2026/27
Bank holidays from GOV.UK and the dates a family plans around, with weekdays.
- Sun 29 Nov, 6, 13, 20 Dec
- The four Advent Sundays.
- Wed 9 Dec
- Last posting date for letters to Santa, from Royal Mail's letters-to-Santa page.
- Thu 24 Dec
- Christmas Eve. Father Christmas visits in the night.
- Fri 25 Dec
- Christmas Day, bank holiday everywhere in the UK. Presents in the morning.
- Sat 26 Dec
- Boxing Day (St Stephen's Day).
- Mon 28 Dec
- Substitute bank holiday for Boxing Day.
- Fri 1 Jan
- New Year's Day 2027, bank holiday.
- Mon 4 Jan
- Scotland only: substitute for 2 January.
Bank holiday dates: GOV.UK, read 28 October 2026. The 9 December date is from Royal Mail.
Royal Mail: letters to Santa · GOV.UK: UK bank holidays · Wikipedia: Advent
More for the British Christmas
Booking a visit
- Father Christmas
- £58 – £99
- 25 December
Santa visits, talks with the children, gives each a small wrapped treat and reads a story; the visit grows with the size of the group. A DBS check is the trust signal operators advertise, and worth asking to see.
One regional operator publishes a full ladder: £58 for one child and up to 25 minutes, £79 for up to five children and 35 minutes, £99 for nine or more and 45 minutes, plus £10 travel and £3.50 per extra child. National agencies quote privately, so this is one operator, not a national rate.
No lead time is published. That operator's visiting season runs from mid-November to 23 December and it does not work on Christmas Eve.
Common questions
- When do British children open their presents?
- Usually on the morning of 25 December, which is a Friday in 2026. Father Christmas is said to come in the night of the 24th, and the stocking is found when children wake up.
- Is it Father Christmas or Santa in Britain?
- Either. Father Christmas is the older English figure and Santa came from America in the 1850s. By the 1880s the two names were used for the same night-time gift-bringer, and dictionaries now treat them as synonyms.
- What is the address for a letter to Father Christmas?
- Santa/Father Christmas, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ. The Welsh version is Sion Corn, Ogof Sion Corn, Gwlad y Ceirw, same postcode. Add a stamp, and write the child's name and address on the back so Santa can reply.
- What is the Royal Mail deadline for letters to Santa in 2026?
- Royal Mail's page gives Wednesday 9 December 2026 as the last day to post. A stamp is needed. Royal Mail says it will try to reply to as many children as it can, so post early.
- When is Boxing Day in 2026?
- Boxing Day is Saturday 26 December, so the bank holiday is Monday 28 December in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Why is it called Boxing Day?
- Nobody knows for sure. The word is recorded in 1743. Explanations include the Christmas boxes given to tradespeople and the church alms boxes opened the day after Christmas.