As Thanksgiving comes closer and closer in America, many different countries have already had their Thanksgiving celebrations. Many of these festivities look very different from the traditional American celebration. Some examples of nations that have their own Thanksgiving include Brazil, Canada, China, England, Ghana, Grenada, The Netherlands and parts of India.
The most well-known Thanksgiving celebration is, of course, the American holiday. Americans take this holiday very seriously and have tons of traditions and customs. For example, New York City holds the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade every year.
Junior Raleigh Flickinger shared his family traditions: “we watch the [Macy’s Thanksgiving Day] parade, eat together as a family, go to other families’ houses and try to find coupons in magazines for Black Friday shopping.”
Many people are aware of at least some American festivities even though they may not celebrate Thanksgiving in their country.
German foreign exchange student Ben Grunwald is about to celebrate his first Thanksgiving ever and is excited to see all that America does for this holiday: “I know nothing about Thanksgiving but I do know about the turkeys and I am excited to try that since it is the typical Thanksgiving thing.”
In contrast, not many people are aware of the Thanksgiving celebrations that happen around the world. Some are very similar to American Thanksgiving, while many are very different.
The Canadian Thanksgiving is almost identical to the American Thanksgiving, except for the fact that Canada holds their celebration on the first Monday in October. Canadian Thanksgiving actually came to be in 1578, which is before Americans began their tradition. This holiday is also sometimes called Action de Grȃce in Canada. They celebrate Thanksgiving to honor the team of Sir Martin Frobisher and their arrival on the land.
Other similar celebrations are the Thanksgivings in Grenada and The Netherlands as these are actual American Thanksgiving celebrations for different reasons. Grenada started celebrating Thanksgiving in 1983 after they received assistance from the U.S. military. The Netherlands have their celebration because of American settlers that stayed in Leiden, a city in The Netherlands, before they continued their journey to land in America. The Netherlands has their own traditions to celebrate their Thanksgiving, as they hold a church service to celebrate it.
The Brazilian Thanksgiving started in the 1940s and is called Açȁo de Graças and has a similar tradition to The Netherlands, as they also hold church services to celebrate. It happens on the same day in November that the American Thanksgiving happens but they have a carnival instead of a parade.
Other celebrations that occur are the Moon Festival in China, the Harvest festival in England and the Homowo festival in Ghana. England and Ghana celebrate their festivals for a plentiful harvest, while China has their celebration for a full moon. England and China have their celebration in either September or October while Ghana’s festival is in April and May.
The last celebration that occurs is the three-day Pongal celebration in South India which takes place in January. This holiday is to be thankful for many things, with agriculture being the main reason.
So while Thanksgiving celebrations begin at many tables across the country, don’t forget about all the other festivals and celebrations that are going on around the world.
