BC city continues its New Year’s hangover holiday

For decades, a Cariboo region city has observed its own unique winter holiday after New Year’s Day, and it continues in 2026.

Williams Lake’s “Wrestling Day” tradition takes place on Jan. 2 every year. The city’s very own civic holiday gives residents “a day of rest and reflection” to start off the year, according to the City’s announcement.

It started as a casual idea between two local businessmen, but it wasn’t about violence or sport. They suggested businesses keep their doors shut for the day because locals were still wrestling with New Year’s hangovers.

That according to a Williams Lake Tribune column, which attributes the owners of a local cafe and a theatre with casually spurring the idea in the late 1930s or early 1940s.

What started as an unspoken tradition became an official civic holiday in 1942. Since then, the local government has observed the day annually.

Though not everyone may need to wrestle hangovers at all, let alone one that lasts two days, Williams Lake residents get the unique privilege of taking an extra day over the winter holidays to welcome the new year.