ABSTRACT
Over the last half-century, the town of Wigan, Greater Manchester has been the site of a modern tradition. On Boxing Day (26th December), the day after Christmas Day, several thousand people descend onto the town in fancy dress, engaging in an extended perambulation around the streets, public houses and nightclubs until the early hours of the following day. The costumes and disguises are contemporary, rarely repeated, often funny, sometimes satirical and occasionally provocative. They frequently push at the boundaries of modern manners and mores in an atmosphere of social licence. Groups form, change and re-form as the day progresses, as the participants, influenced by friendships, common costume themes and intended routes, move from bar to bar, house to house. Informed by interviews and social media surveys, alongside local newspaper articles, commentary and personal experience; this fieldwork-based paper describes the form and experience of a Wigan Boxing Day. It attempts to ascertain how this seemingly spontaneous custom arose and, in the broader context of performance theory, to understand this example of the living archive and its meaning for the northern town’s cultural expression.
