Thanksgiving: A Harvest Feast

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. It is
also celebrated in Canada on the second Monday in October. In the United States, this national holiday
honors the early settlers and their harvest feast with Indigenous people, known as the first Thanksgiving.
November is in autumn, which is the main season to harvest crops. Many cultures have an autumn harvest
festival.

Today, Thanksgiving is seen as a time to reflect upon what people are grateful for. Families and
friends take time to share what they are thankful for in their lives. This is an important aspect of
Thanksgiving, families and friends reuniting and spending time together. Thanksgiving is the busiest travel
day of the year in the United States. Some Americans travel long distances to be with their families or
friends to share a meal.

Thanksgiving dinner, is a large meal that families prepare together. Traditional dishes include,
mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, roasted vegetables, pumpkin pie, apple pie
and of course- turkey! Turkey is a large bird that is roasted in an oven for several hours. Sometimes people
stuff the turkey with a bread and vegetable mixture, called stuffing. This keeps the turkey moist and tender
while it’s cooking. The turkey is served with the stuffing and a gravy sauce.

During the day some families will also play sports, watch American football, or watch the
Thanksgiving Day parade on television. The parade takes place in New York City and features massive
balloons of different film or cartoon characters. The first parade took place at a Macy’s store in 1924.
Since many of the employees were immigrants, they wanted to have a big parade similar to their own
traditions.

Another important tradition during Thanksgiving is giving to those who are unable to buy a
Thanksgiving dinner or spend time with family or friends. In many communities, religious groups or service
organizations prepare meals for lower income community members and the homeless. While
Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday, it can be spiritual. It is tradition to say a few words of thanks before
eating.

© 2017 by World Learning. Module 6, Task 3 – ‘American Culture - Thanksgiving’ for the AE –Teacher Program, sponsored by
the U.S. Department of State and administered by FHI 360. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
License, except where noted. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State administered by

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