✦ zenith calendar · the uk almanac
the days off the whole kingdom keeps, in one quiet layer of your sky, each one explained in its own words.
uk is one of the holiday almanacs that come with zenith calendar. it holds the bank holidays shared by england and wales, scotland and northern ireland. where a day falls on a weekend, the published substitute day is the one here. easter monday, the august bank holiday and each nation's own days are on only some of the lists, so they are not here.
its dates are copied from the published lists, not worked out on your phone; good friday follows the published western easter table. tap a day and read three short paragraphs: what it is, where it comes from, and how it is kept.
gregorian · the bank holidays shared across the uk, with substitute days
25 december, or the published substitute day
the feast of the birth of jesus christ and the heart of the british winter. it opens the christmas season, which runs to the epiphany.
many go to midnight mass or a morning service and sing carols. families open stockings and presents, pull crackers and share a roast dinner, and many stop in the afternoon for the king's christmas message.
st stephen's day
26 december, or the published substitute day when it falls on a weekend
the day after christmas, a second day of rest and visiting, named for the "christmas box" once given to those who had worked through the year.
a day of leftovers, long walks and visits to family not seen the day before. football clubs play a full round of matches, and for many it is the start of the winter sales.
1 january, or the monday when it falls on a weekend
the first day of the year: a quiet day of fresh starts after the long night before.
the old year is seen out at midnight with big ben's chimes, fireworks and "auld lang syne". in scotland, where the night is hogmanay, the first-foot over the threshold brings luck for the year.
the friday before easter
the day of jesus' crucifixion and death, the most solemn day of the christian year, and a bank holiday across the uk.
churches are left bare and read the passion, and many keep the hours from noon when christ hung on the cross. across britain hot cross buns are eaten, the cross on top for the crucifixion.
zenith calendar draws the year as an orbit round the sun. lit, uk puts its days on their dates on that ring, in ice blue. its mark is its flag, 🇬🇧.
each holiday carries three short paragraphs in its notes: what it is, where it comes from as its own tradition or the country itself tells it, and how it is kept.
on a new install, your phone's own country starts switched on. if your phone's language setting names the uk as its region, uk starts lit; anywhere else it waits in the archive, whole.
uk arrives locked, so nothing in it changes by accident. the lock guards your hand, not your eye: you can still read it, shine it or eclipse it from its chip. one tap unlocks it, and then it is yours to rename, recolour or add to.
uk shares one sky with your own commitments. like every almanac that comes with the app, it never counts toward the almanacs you can make for free, and it lives on your phone: zenith calendar has no server of its own.
✦ zenith calendar · the sky around it
uk is a single layer. beneath it is a whole calendar drawn as the sky, your year an orbit round the sun, and every part of it answers your touch.
the sun stands at the centre and the year rings round it, with today's earth riding at today's place, its small moon beside it. tap the ring anywhere else and a faint ghost earth waits on that day.
drag along the ring and the days pass under your finger, the big date and the day's list following as you go. lift, and the day you stopped on stays picked.
tap the small moon beside today's earth and you dive into the week. the moon above shows its phase, named underneath; swipe the dates and each week brings its own.
tap the sun and the ring tips on its edge into a ladder of years. in the week, pull the moon firmly down and the month opens, the moon resting half off its foot.
zenith calendar has no server of its own. tap the gear and switch on "nothing comes in" or "nothing leaves this phone"; lift them, and every almanac is back exactly as it was.
uk is waiting in the app, and the rest of the sky comes with it.
uk (bank holidays) ·
In 2026, 26 December falls on a weekend, so the Boxing Day bank holiday is the published substitute day, 28 December. In Zenith Calendar it sits on the ring of your year in the uk almanac.
Good Friday falls on 26 March 2027, a bank holiday across the UK. It follows the published western Easter table.
No. The uk almanac holds only the bank holidays shared by England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Easter Monday is on only some of those lists, like the August bank holiday and each nation's own days.
Zenith Calendar for Android comes with an almanac called uk: the bank holidays shared across the UK, with their substitute days, drawn on the ring of your year beside your own days. Turning it on costs nothing.
Uk holds the bank holidays, the days off. Anglican (england) holds the Church of England's feasts and holy days. They are separate almanacs, so you can light either or both.
On a new install, the first page asks which almanacs start lit. If your phone's language setting names the UK as its region, the uk almanac starts switched on; otherwise it waits in the archive until you light it.
They are copied from the published bank holiday lists, substitute days included, not worked out on your phone.