When is Thanksgiving 2023?
Thanksgiving 2023 falls on Thursday, 23rd November. It is a time for Americans to express gratitude for the harvest and spend time with family and friends.
About Thanksgiving Day
Every year, Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States, Brazil, and a number of other nations. It is commemorated once a year to express gratitude and take a time to reflect on the sacrifices and blessings of the previous year. It is like the celebration and grand feast before all the hustle-bustle of Christmas kicks in. It is an excellent time to take a moment to look around and think about what you’re grateful for in life. Thanksgiving day has always been the most amazing and wonderful time of the year.
Thanksgiving day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and the second Monday of October in Canada. While it is still mostly popular in North America, slowly and steadily the charm of this great festival is spreading all over the world, especially in Europe. Though we consider it to be the day of showing gratitude and blessings but there is a history behind it. And it’s important to teach children the true story of thanksgiving day.
When is Thanksgiving 2023?
Thanksgiving Day 2023 will be celebrated in the United States of America on Thursday, 23rd November. Every year Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of the November month.
History of Thanksgiving Day
Every year, the feast of Thanksgiving is held to commemorate the ‘first’ Thanksgivings in America, which took place in 1619 in Virginia and 1621 in Pennsylvania. The Wampanoag Indians and the colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts, had a feast at this time.
The Pilgrims
Quite a while in the past, in the mid 1600s, a group of people wanted to pray to God in their own way but there was a King who controlled the Church of England, and everybody was ordered to go to a similar sort of chapel. Any individual who dared to disobey the order would be shipped off prison.
The group of individuals who wanted to free the Church of England from the King’s rule, making it “pure” were known as the Puritans. To get away from the rule of the King, around 100 men, ladies and kids left their country, with their dream of freedom of religion. They sailed on a boat, the Mayflower — on a journey to the New World.
These voyagers — the Pilgrims — arrived in Plymouth after their six-week journey. It was December 11, 1620. The chilly winter had set in. The land was unusual to them, and nothing appeared to be familiar. The colder time of year was long, and hard for the Pilgrims.
The Native Americans
Before the pilgrims came to the place, the area was inhabited by many Native American tribes. The native people knew the place very well and spent their days by fishing, hunting and harvesting.
The Native Americans helped the pilgrims by providing them with seeds and food, showing them their new home, and giving them the skills and training required to survive in the new land. Without the generosity of the Native Americans, the Pilgrims would not have survived one more winter.
So to thank them all, the pilgrims arranged for a grand feast after the fall or harvest season where numerous delicious cuisines were cooked — wild turkey, duck, and venison were likely served, alongside fish, pumpkins, squash, corn, yams, and cranberries. Captain Miles Standish, the head of the Pilgrims, welcomed all the Native Americans who had helped them in such a great amount during their first year. This harvest feast in 1621 is called the “First Thanksgiving.”
How do people celebrate Thanksgiving Day?
- In 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt made Thanksgiving a national holiday in USA
- Most individuals have the day off, they take the Friday off too making a long end of the weekfor travel and holiday
- The way most individualscelebrate this day is by getting in get together with family and having a grand home-cooked supper
- Numerousindividuals travel all over the nation for huge family social occasions on this day
- Many cities have parades on Thanksgiving Day. The biggestand most celebrated parade is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Modern York City. It is broadly broadcast and has been running since 1924
- Other cities with hugeparades on this day incorporate Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago
- Another prevalentway to spend the day is observing NFL football. There are number of football recreations on this day in spite of the fact that it is Thursday. The Detroit Lions are a conventional group that plays for amusement on each Thanksgiving Day
What are the traditional cuisines made on Thanksgiving?
The traditional cuisines for the Thanksgiving Day meal includes a turkey, some also prefers to feast on duck, cranberry sauce, potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, vegetables, and pumpkin pie as a sweet dessert.
How other countries celebrate Thanksgiving?
- In Germany, Thanksgiving is called “Erntedankfest,” and is celebrated in early October
- Labor Thanksgiving Day is celebrated yearly in Japan on the 23rd of November to celebrate labor and generation. Numerous children in Japan draw pictures on the occasion and donate them to neighborhood policemen to thank them for their benefit to the community
- Korea celebrates the day of thanks called “Chuseok,” which happens in late September
- Rome’s adaptation of Thanksgiving may be a harvest celebration called “Cerelia.” It could be a day to honor the Goddess of Corn, Ceres. Cerelia is celebrated on October 4th each year
- The Chinese adaptation of Thanksgiving is called “Chung Ch’ui,” referred to as The August Moon Festival. It may be a 3-day celebration that happens within the center of Eminent and sees Chinese families celebrating the end of the harvest season with a cook pig and mooncakes
- In the Southern parts of India, people celebrate their harvest at the Pongal festival. This festival takes place in January
Fun facts about Thanksgiving Day
- Most people do the breaking of the turkey wishbone during the meal wherein the one who gets the larger piece is granted a wish
- Each year the president of the United States pardons one turkey so the turkey is not cooked and eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. The tradition started in 1947 with President Truman
- One popular Thanksgiving tradition is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. The parade first began in 1924. 400 Macy’s employees marched in the parade along with the animals from the Central Park Zoo
- In 2020 for the first time in history due to the corona-virus, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was held virtually
- The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day 2023 parade will be held in full form this year with balloons, animated floats, music, and more
Activities for kids on Thanksgiving 2023
List of thanksgiving activities for kids are:
- Craft a family tree
- Play a gratitude game
- Create a Thanksgiving card
- Help your mother in Thanksgiving dinner
- Decorate the table
- Make a DIY Turkey
- Play a Thanksgiving special word scramble
- Pumpkin play dough
Amazing Books to read on Thanksgiving 2023
Some amazing storybooks to read to your kids on the occasion of Thanksgiving are:
- We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
- 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O’Neill Grace
- The Boy Who Fell off the Mayflower, or John Howland’s Good Fortune by P.J. Lynch
- Native American History for Kids by Karen Bush Gibson
- Giving Thanks: More Than 100 Ways to Say Thank You by Ellen Surrey
- Thanksgiving Is For Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland
- Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac
