What other countries celebrate Thanksgiving? America’s holiday has gone international
Sitting down to have a meal with loved ones is not unique to the US. Other nations have their own Thanksgiving-like celebrations. Here’s which ones
Americans favorite holiday traces its roots back to the famous feast between Pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621. But the practice of sitting down with loved ones to celebrate family, a good harvest or just be grateful can be found around the world.
Some of these Thanksgiving festivals were adopted from the United States but others are home grown. Here’s a look at which countries celebrate a day, or in some cases days, of gratitude.
Canada
While households in the United States are getting their Halloween decorations ready, Canadians celebrate their own version of Thanksgiving, or Action de Grâce in the French-speaking province of Quebec. The date for the celebration was established in 1957 as the second Monday in October having previously taken place on varying dates over the centuries.
Liberia
Africa’s oldest republic founded in the 19th Century by freed American slaves celebrates their own Thanksgiving. The day of the celebration was set by the Legislature of Liberia in 1883 to be held on the first Thursday of November. The day is more of a religious occasion for those who celebrate the holiday.
Grenada
The Thanksgiving festival on Grenada is a relatively new celebration. It started out of the political turmoil that ended with the coup d’état and execution of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop which prompted a US military invasion of the Caribbean island nation in 1983.
Although the intervention was controversial, grateful residents brought American troops a Thanksgiving feast. The day of the invasion, 25 October, has since been celebrated as a day of gratitude and remembrance with celebrations.
Europe
Besides American and Canadian expats getting together to celebrate Thanksgiving, the old continent has its own traditional harvest festival. In the rural areas of Austria, Germany and Switzerland communities celebrate Erntedankfest. There is no official national observance and depending on the region celebrations usually take place in September or October.
In Spain, where an opportunity to get together with friends and family is never missed, some families celebrate the US tradition because of contacts with American friends and wanting to celebrate with them in the distance. “I’ve made turkey dinner on the Saturday after Thanksgiving ever since an American friend who lives here in Zaragoza invited us to his house years ago,” said Eva Soro. “We get a turkey and make mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and even pumpkin pie.”
Ghana
One of the largest cultural festivals of its kind in Africa is the version of Thanksgiving in Ghana. The Homowo Festival was started by the Ga after a perilous crossing of Africa in the 16th Century in which they experienced much hardship including famine. The celebration which literally means “hooting at hunger” was started as a harvest feast to celebrate the reaping of their first crops in Ghana.
The festival lasts for 3 months, going from May through to August, possibly into September. The feast day always takes place on a Saturday but the date is not fixed.
Japan
Kinrō Kansha no Hi, or Labor Thanksgiving Day, offers thanks to the first rice harvest of the season. It far out dates the American Thanksgiving going back some 2,000 years or so. The national holiday is held on 23 November every year.
China
Even older still is the Chinese Thanksgiving tracing its roots back more than 500 years before their neighbors to the east. The Mid-Autumn Festival takes place around the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. The three-day feast is set to coincide when the Moon is at its fullest and brightest, typically in late September or early October.
Vietnam
Like the Chinese, the Vietnamese celebrate their harvest festival on the 15th day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar. Têt-Trung-Thu Festival, or the Children’s Festival, is said to be held for parents to make amends to their children who may have felt neglected while they were working in the fields.
South Korea
The harvest festival in South Korea is called Chuseok, also known as Hangawi. It’s the biggest traditional holiday in the country lasting for three days. The holiday is held on the 15th day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar. The festival is also a time to give thanks to ones ancestors.