It has been declared that June 5 is going to be an additional bank holiday this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation. And with June 4 already down as being the date for the late May bank holiday, this gives workers an extra day away from work.

With many events and festivities due to take place in celebration of this occasion, there are bound to be scenes similar to those enjoyed by Brits last year for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Will you be gathering together your friends and neighbours again for a street party, or getting away for a super-long weekend break?

Boxing Day sales are always going to be popular with those who like to be thrifty and get more for their Christmas money, but the scenes at Manchester’s Trafford Centre and the Arndale Centre were quite chaotic to say the least.

Some people had queued up overnight to be first in line for the bargains, and the video on the Manchester Evening News website shows how thousands of people rushed to get into stores like Next, Selfridges and Topshop once the shops finally opened up.

If you are looking to get good value, it may now be safe to venture out again. While you may not be able to get the heavily-discounted products that were first available when the sales started, at least you can have your sanity intact instead!

It was not long ago that the odds on a white Christmas were slashed amidst dropping temperatures and snow across parts of the UK, but now it seems that those taking a punt are set to be disappointed. Those having to travel during this period should be a little happier though.

The recent cold snap seems to have vanished as mild weather is now prevalent across most of the country. In fact, temperatures for Christmas Day and Boxing Day have been predicted as reaching 12C in some areas.

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson admitted:

“We’re seeing milder air being introduced across Britain and Ireland. It looks to stay fairly mild through to Boxing Day, although there will be a brief colder spell on Friday and perhaps Christmas Eve (Saturday). Not as cold as the weekend just gone though.”

This would mean that the temperature for this time of year is several degrees more than the average. However, the rain, wind and cloud will mean it doesn’t feel that much warmer.

Nobody likes to stand around waiting in queues, especially at the airport when you are about to go away on holiday. This may now all be about to change as I noticed when I was at Liverpool John Lennon Airport last week.

Their Fast Track system allows you to race through to the Departure Lounge at the airport within a shorter time, although it all depends on how big the queues are at the time. To be fair, this does seem like a good idea at peak times, but when I was there Saturday lunchtime, it only took a few minutes for us to pass the security screening process anyway.

This weekend I decided to get rid of some old stuff and see what cash I could make at my local car boot sale. The whole event was organised by military precision with nobody except sellers allowed in until the official opening time of 9am.

As we could arrive just after 7, this gave people who had set up their stalls the chance to check out what others were selling.

What I didn’t account for is how mad it gets once people get past the barriers. When you have multiple transactions on the go at any one time it can all get a bit hectic to say the least. And the fact that it was burning hot with no clouds to be seen, meant that sunburn was an inevitability.

In the end we did make a half decent amount, but this is not an experience i’d like to go through every week.

It just wouldn’t be Glastonbury without a few showers expected during at least some of the weekend. And this year is no different with Thursday and Friday looking like it is to be a damp one. Not that it will affect the 200,000 festival-goers packing out the Worthy Farm site.

With no event next year, the tickets for Glastonbury 2011 were snapped up even more eagerly than ever and the weather didn’t even come into the equation for these music fans.

The line-up is as varied as ever, with Beyonce and Cee Lo Green joining rock giants U2 and Coldplay on the famous Pyramid Stage.

When it came to holidays as a child, I remember being taken on many caravan trips across the UK. We rarely went abroad and when I look back at it now I don’t really feel i’ve missed out.

I may have made up for that in my adult years, with holidays to the US, New Zealand and throughout Europe, but I always remember those camping excursions very fondly. Many times we went to North Wales and places like Llandudno and Pwllheli and had a great time on the beach. I have also been to the Lake District and indulged in a lot of walking.

These were certainly active holidays and a far cry from just lounging around on a beach soaking up the sun. Camping outdoors can be less comfortable when it is raining, but it is all part of the fun. With caravans you obviously have more in the way of amenities, but either way, these holidays can be a really good laugh.

As we suggested in our last blog post, the real winner of the double Bank Holiday weekends is the tourism industry.

If you are one of those looking to get away from these shores and travel abroad over this 11-day period (with just three days annual leave needed to be taken from work), then you are certainly not on your own.

Around 2 million holidaymakers from Britain are expected to embark on trips to the Costa del Sol, New York, Paris and Rome, according to ABTA, The Travel Association.

For those who are left behind (me included) at least we do have some good weather to look forward to, if the forecasters are to be believed. Well, it is certainly nice at the moment so I can’t really complain.

If you are fortunate enough to have a job where your employer pays you for bank holidays then you cannot fail to be excited by the prospect of four days off within the space of two weeks.

Good Friday and Easter Monday are coming up and then there is the Royal Wedding next Friday. After that there is the Early May Bank Holiday the end of the month.

So whether you are going away during this time to take advantage of the public holidays or are at home relaxing and enjoying the predicted good weather, be sure to make the most of it.

I recently read about Manchester being rated quite highly in a global survey to find the best place to live.

The rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit put Manchester in 42nd place out of 140 of the world’s major cities.

As someone who has lived in the area all my life I am quite proud that it is well thought of as a city, but in some ways I wonder how it got to be placed above the likes of New York City, London and Rome.

It is certainly better than a lot of other cities, but as a place for tourists to come and visit, I’m not sure it has all that to offer.