The wakes week is a holiday

Holiday

A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...

 period in parts of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

History

Wakes were originally religious

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 festival

Festival

A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....

s that commemorated church dedications. During the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 the tradition of the wakes was adapted into a regular summer holiday particularly, but not exclusively, in the north of England and industrialised areas of the Midlands where each locality would nominate a wakes week during which the industries would close down for a week. The wakes holiday was an unpaid holiday when the mills and factories were closed for maintenance. In 1906 an agreement on unpaid holidays was reached which became the pattern for the wakes holidays in the Lancashire mill town

Mill town

A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...

s. It was implemented in 1907. The expansion of the railway network led Blackpool

Blackpool

Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...

 to become a seaside resort

Seaside resort

A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...

 catering mainly for the Lancashire working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

es. Southport

Southport

Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...

 catered for the slightly better off and Morecambe

Morecambe

Morecambe is a resort town and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. As of 2001 it has a resident population of 38,917. It faces into Morecambe Bay...

 attracted visitors from the West Riding

West Riding

West Riding could refer to:Areas:*West Riding of Yorkshire, England*West Riding of Lindsey in Lincolnshire, England*West Riding of County Cork, Ireland*West Riding of County Galway, IrelandTransport companies:*West Riding Automobile Company...

 textile towns.

There is a merry, happy time,

To grace withal this simple ryhme:

There is jovial, joyous hour,

Of mirth and jollitty in store:

The Wakes! The Wakes!

The jocund wakes!

My wandering memory now forsakes

The present busy scene of things,

Erratic upon Fancy's wings,

For olden times, with garlands crown'd

And rush-carts green on many a mound.

In hamlets bearing a great name,

The first in astronomic fame.
 — From The Village Festival by Droylsden poet Elijah Ridings.

Present day

The tradition still exists in some parts of England, although its significance has declined in recent decades. It was commonplace for schools to allocate a one week holiday coinciding with wakes week in lieu of holiday time elsewhere in the year;— typically the May half term holiday or the end of the summer holiday in August. Schools began to discontinue the wakes week holiday after the introduction of the National Curriculum and the standardisation of school holidays across England, and it rarely exists today.