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A city in B.C. has an actual civic holiday called Wrestling Day

It's a long-held tradition
hangover
Wrestle with a hangover on your day off in Williams Lake

Since 1959, Williams Lake, B.C. has officially recognized a civic holiday called Wrestling Day, which is celebrated on the day after New Year's Day - January 2 - every year.

There's no parade, no official events, or even much fanfare around it; the day is dedicated to people 'wrestling' with their hangovers.

It was conceived in the 1940s by a pair of businessmen who concluded that most people wouldn't be out shopping because they had tied one on for New Year's and were taking it easy.

The two men closed up their respective shops, as did the other 10 business owners who operated in what was then a small village of 600 people (it's now home to more than 10,000).

About a decade later it was voted on and confirmed as an actual bylaw, and it's been on the books ever since.

You can read all about the history of it in Massimo Calabrese's Wrestling Day feature in the William Lake Tribune, and hear more stories like this by following our BC Is Awesome TikTok account.

 

@bcisawesome Wrestling Day is real #bchistorywithbobk #williamslakebc #northernbc #holidays #fyp ♬ original sound - BC Is Awesome

 

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