Thanksgiving

Early harvest gatherings

Thanksgiving has roots in regional days of prayer and harvest feasts held across early North America. Spanish, French, and English settlers observed separate religious thanksgiving days starting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In 1621, English colonists at Plymouth and Wampanoag people shared a three-day autumn gathering after a successful harvest. Local leader Massasoit and around ninety Wampanoag men joined the colonists, contributing deer while settlers provided fowl and cornmeal. Over the next two centuries, New England towns developed recurring autumn thanksgiving days. The national holiday took unified form in 1863, championed by editor Sarah Josepha Hale as a domestic celebration to foster unity.

The holiday meal

The centerpiece of the day is a large afternoon dinner shared among family and close friends. Roast turkey is the traditional main dish, accompanied by regional side dishes and autumnal produce. Classic accompaniments include mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, squash, green beans, and seasoned stuffing. Southern households often prepare macaroni and cheese as well as pecan pie, while the Great Lakes area features wild rice dressing. Dessert nearly always includes pumpkin pie. Many families invite neighbors or friends who cannot travel home, a custom often called Friendsgiving, creating a welcoming atmosphere of hospitality and plenty.

Parades, football and charity

Thanksgiving morning commonly begins with televised street parades, most notably the Macy's parade with large floats and performances. Later in the day, households tune into live American football games, an enduring national pastime associated with the holiday. Community service and giving back are also central to the observance. Religious congregations hold special morning worship services focused on gratitude. Meanwhile, churches and charitable groups prepare hot meals and distribute turkeys and staple provisions to those experiencing poverty, ensuring that everyone in the community has access to a celebratory dinner.

The festive shopping season

In modern American culture, Thanksgiving also marks the opening of the winter shopping season. The day immediately following the holiday is called Black Friday, widely viewed as the nation's most active retail shopping day. In recent decades, internet promotions expanded the period to include Cyber Monday on the following week. Even as commercial activities have grown around the four-day weekend, the core holiday remains centered on the home, gratitude, and reunions of extended families.

How Thanksgiving is kept

The day begins in many households with televised coverage of morning parades or attendance at church services. Families and friends gather together at home to prepare a multi-course afternoon feast centered on roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and seasonal pies. During the afternoon and evening, participants share the meal, offer prayers or words of gratitude, and watch live televised American football games. Community members and volunteers also assist charitable groups by serving hot dinners and distributing food packages to the poor.

When and where

Thanksgiving is celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday of November. The date shifts between November 22 and November 28 each year. This timing was established as a uniform nationwide standard by federal law in 1941, following a national custom first declared annually in 1863.

The holiday is observed across the entire United States as a federal public holiday. Celebrations take place in private homes, community centers, and churches throughout all fifty states, with distinct regional touches appearing in local recipes from the South to New England and the Great Lakes.

What Thanksgiving means

Thanksgiving represents a dedicated time to express gratitude for personal, familial, and community blessings. Rooted historically in harvest celebrations and Calvinist days of thanksgiving, it emphasizes hearth, home, and mutual aid. The holiday highlights the value of gathering with loved ones, sharing food with those in need, and celebrating domestic harmony and unity across the nation.

On the table

• Roast turkey
• Mashed potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Cranberry sauce
• Pumpkin pie
• Stuffing
• Green beans
• Pecan pie

Thanksgiving dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Thanksgiving

See also

Christmas EveThe evening before Christmas, marked by church services, family meals, and gift preparations across Christian cultures.Mardi GrasA festive day of parades and rich foods marking the final celebration before the Christian fasting season of Lent beginsKwanzaaA seven-day African American celebration of heritage, family and community valuesTanabataA Japanese summer star festival of written wishes hung on leafy bamboo.

Good reading and sources

• Thanksgiving 2026: Tradition, Origins & MeaningHistory.com, Article
• ‘The gooey overlay of sweetness over genocide’: the myth of the ‘first Thanksgiving’The Guardian, Article
• Thanksgiving 2026: Tradition, Origins & MeaningHistory.com, Article
• ‘The gooey overlay of sweetness over genocide’: the myth of the ‘first Thanksgiving’The Guardian, Article

• Thanksgiving (United States) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.