WE, THE PUBLIC HOLIDAY PEOPLE

Vicki Sleet considers what public holidays say about the people that celebrate them

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Somewhere in the world, someone woke up this morning and a peaceful sense of happiness washed over them because, wherever they are today, it's a public holiday. They had no alarm clock to shut off, no school lunches to make, no bickering children to mediate, no queues for trains and no traffic jams to work... all because it's a gazetted holiday. If you live in Nepal, you'd get to experience this joyous 'no work today' feeling no fewer than 35 times a year, since they officially have the most public holidays in the world. Poor Mexico - bizarrely, since it's home to one of the most celebratory cultures on the planet - comes in at rock bottom lowest, with just seven official public holidays.