Millions of 2020 calendars and diaries printed with incorrect bank holidays

Is your calendar one of the million incorrect ones? (Photo: Shutterstock)

As we make our way towards 2020, many of us have already booked off our bank holidays for next year - but is your calendar one of the millions showing the wrong date for the 2020 May bank holiday?

This is what you need to know about the mistake and why it happened.

Wrong date

The bank holiday in question should have taken place on the first Monday of May, which would have been 4 May, but has now been moved to Friday 8 May in 2020.

The government issued this announcement earlier this year, on 7 June, but a huge number of the UK’s calendars and diaries had already been printed.

This means that calendars and diaries across the UK will display the incorrect date of Monday 4 May as a bank holiday, when actually it’s the following Friday.

Why was the date changed?

The change of date is to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, which takes place on 8 May.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said, “Moving next year’s early May bank holiday to VE Day itself is a right and fitting tribute.

“It will ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to remember and honour our heroes of the Second World War and reflect on the sacrifices of a generation.”

This is only the second time ever that the early May bank holiday has been moved, with the first time being in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of VE Day.

VE Day

VE Day stands for ‘Victory in Europe Day’ and marks the day towards the end of World War Two when fighting with Nazi Germany in Europe came to an end.

On 8 May 1945, Winston Churchill announced that the war in Europe was over, following Germany’s surrender the day before.

Following the defeat of Germany, celebrations broke out, with more than one million people taking to the streets throughout the UK.