section_path: Associated customs/United Kingdom
section_name: United Kingdom
paragraph_text: United Kingdom
  
  In the UK Good Friday was historically a common law holiday; it is today recognised as an official public holiday (bank holiday). All state schools are closed and most businesses treat it as a holiday for staff; however, many retail stores remain open. Government services in Northern Ireland operate as normal on Good Friday, closing instead on Easter Tuesday.
  
  There has traditionally been no horse racing on Good Friday in the UK. However, in 2008, betting shops and stores opened for the first time on this day, and in 2014 Lingfield Park and Musselburgh staged the UK's first Good Friday race meetings. The BBC Radio 4 7 am News broadcast on Good Friday is traditionally introduced with a verse from Isaac Watts ' hymn " When I Survey the Wondrous Cross ".
  
  The tradition of Easter plays includes 1960 Eastertime performance of Good Friday: A Play in Verse (1916) Artists Ursula O'Leary (Procula), and William Devlin as Pontius Pilate, perform with the atmospheric sound effects of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The Hugh Stewart production for the Home Service used soundware such as the EMS Synthi 100 and ARP Odyssey l.
  
  In the UK Good Friday was historically a common law holiday; it is today recognised as an official public holiday (bank holiday). All state schools are closed and most businesses treat it as a holiday for staff; however, many retail stores remain open. Government services in Northern Ireland operate as normal on Good Friday, closing instead on Easter Tuesday.
  
  There has traditionally been no horse racing on Good Friday in the UK. However, in 2008, betting shops and stores opened for the first time on this day, and in 2014 Lingfield Park and Musselburgh staged the UK's first Good Friday race meetings. The BBC Radio 4 7 am News broadcast on Good Friday is traditionally introduced with a verse from Isaac Watts ' hymn " When I Survey the Wondrous Cross ".
  
  The tradition of Easter plays includes 1960 Eastertime performance of Good Friday: A Play in Verse (1916) Artists Ursula O'Leary (Procula), and William Devlin as Pontius Pilate, perform with the atmospheric sound effects of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The Hugh Stewart production for the Home Service used soundware such as the EMS Synthi 100 and ARP Odyssey l.