The August Bank Holiday is celebrated on the last Monday of August all across the UK except for Scotland where it falls on the first Monday of the month. Actually, the Scottish date is the original date; however, after celebrating it on the first Monday of August for years in all UK, the date was converted to the last Monday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland following a five year trial period. Also, the holiday’s original name was the Summer Bank Holiday.

The August Bank Holiday was instituted in order to give bank and shop workers an off day that is not about holy days like Christmas. It was first started by the Bank Holidays Act of 1871 and ever since it has been providing workers an all-included three day weekend that is a nice touch just before the end of summer holidays. It is really motivational for employees and students returning to their duties.

The first Lord Avebury, Sir John Lubbock was the first person to see the necessity of the Bank Holidays Act of 1871. Therefore, the holidays this act provided were unofficially named “St. Lubbock Days”. Sir John Lubbock wrote the following about the August Bank Holiday:

“The Act, we always hoped and believed, would be generally adopted, and I have always believed that our August Bank Holiday would become the great National Holiday.”

For most people, the August Bank Holiday is a time when you go out and have a little vacation. Therefore, many people travel all over the UK and Ireland or even to the European continent and beyond. This extensive traveling inevitably makes the traffic very busy in all senses. So, it may be a good idea to plan your vacation beforehand.

There are lots of people who choose to visit local places like parks, beaches or nature reserves. They visit attractions that are normally only visited by tourists which enlivens the economy. Of course, these are all possible only if the weather is convenient. It can be a huge disappointment if this holiday happens to be on a rainy day which makes a lot of people rather demoralized.

However, this day is not a full holiday for everyone. Most shops only reduce their working hours to six which is the UK Sunday standard instead of actually closing for a whole day. Schools and most non-retail businesses are generally the ones that have a shut down for three days. Public transformation isn’t completely off either, it runs by Sunday schedule during the August Bank Holiday.

August Bank Holiday is not only about traveling of course. There are some very enjoyable events during the weekend.

• The Notting Hill Carnival, London: The Notting Hill Carnival on Portobello Road is easily the biggest August Bank Holiday event in the whole UK. Having one to two million people attending each year, it is the world’s second-biggest street carnival after Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro which makes it the biggest street fest in all Europe. London’s Caribbean community first started this festival in 1964 in order to celebrate the Caribbean culture and it still keeps its essence to this day. The festival includes numerous entertaining events followed by a grand parade. You also get to wear colourful and fun costumes.
• August Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland: The August Festival contains a number of various festivals conducted throughout the month of August. Most of these festivals aren’t exclusive to the August Bank Holiday Weekend and they run for the greater part of the month. It may not be the biggest single event but running since 1947, it is certainly one of the oldest ones. Also, it is a collective name for many fun occasions during the month which makes it a kind of “main event”. People come from all over the world to perform musical, dance, and dramatic acts. In recent years, there has been an addition to this festival called “Edinburgh Fringe” which has the same essence as the August Festival without copying its style. Edinburgh Art Festival has started in 2004 and it has been providing art gallery tours with special exhibits ever since.

There are two more very important events to mention; the Edinburgh International Book Festival in Charlotte Square and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo which takes place in Edinburgh Castle.