What was Whit Monday and why was it essential?

The day after Pentecost Sunday is named Whit Monday and it played a crucial part in culture. This is the story …

Whit Monday

Pentecost can also be called Whit Sunday and depending in your tradition the day after it is named Whit Monday, or Pentecost Monday, or the Monday of the Holy Spirit. The week after Whit Sunday was traditionally called Whitsuntide. This commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples as described in Acts 2:15-47. In the Eastern Orthodox traditions, Whit Monday is devoted to honouring the Holy Spirit and is marked with special hymns and liturgies. Whit Monday marks the top of the Easter season and the start of what is usually called “Ordinary Time” for churches which use a liturgical calendar.

Unusually, in 2025 the Eastern and Western calendars of the Church have Whit Monday on the identical day, on 9 June.

Whit Monday eventsIn Britain and Ireland, Whit Monday was related to community events, and in some places parades and parties. When the Bank Holiday Act of 1871 established British Bank Holidays, Whit Monday was one in all these first British Bank Holidays. In industrial towns of northern England, Whitsuntide was often chosen for “wakes week”, when factories and shops closed for maintenance and staff took a vacation. People often took outings or went on holiday to the seaside. In other places schools closed for Whitsuntide which is the origin of the May half-term week. It was the custom to purchase latest clothes for Whitsun, and shops would advertise Whitsun dresses.In past times some towns held Whit Fairs, which are actually rare, were held in towns and villages with competitions and dancing. In mediaeval times, churches brewed and sold special ales for the occasion called Whit Ales. 

In the Victorian era it became common on Whit Monday for Sunday Schools to go on parades carrying banners through the towns and villages. They then finished with a giant party within the rectory garden, the local park, on the common, or a meadow. In some places all of the churches of various traditions would come together for a giant party, because Pentecost was considered the party for the Church. In other places the Anglicans and the Free Churches may need separate events, when typically, groups just like the Methodists, Baptists and Congregationalists got together. In the north of England these would often feature brass bands and processions called ‘Whit Walks’. Some ancient Whit Monday folk traditions survive in some pockets of England. For centuries, the village of Bampton in Oxfordshire has come alive on Whit Monday with Morris dancers. In the village of Whaddon in Cambridgeshire, men sing a special Whitsun song while carrying oak branches.

National HolidayWhit Monday continues to be a national holiday in lots of countries notably in Europe in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France (where it is named ‘Lundi de Pentecôte’), Germany (where it is named ‘Pfingstenmontag’), Hungary, the Netherlands (where it is named ‘Tweede Pinksterdag’, which implies the Second Pentecost Day), and Norway. For most individuals the religious significance is lost, and it is usually a convenient long weekend which many individuals use to go away.

Spring Bank Holiday Monday

From 1965, the British government fixed the Bank Holiday because the last Monday in May and Whit Monday became Late May or Spring Bank Holiday. In 1971, the late May Bank Holiday happened to be Whit Monday, but now these are almost at all times different dates. Some people still colloquially confer with the Late May Bank Holiday Monday as “Whit Monday” but technically these are actually different days most years. Next 12 months, in 2026 the Late Spring Bank Holiday shall be on 25 May, which shall be Whit Monday.