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When is Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026.
About Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving in the United States falls on the fourth Thursday of November each year, so the date moves between November 22 and November 28. It is one of the most-travelled holidays of the year in the US, with families gathering for a traditional meal built around roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. The holiday traces back to a 1621 harvest feast shared between the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people, and it was made a federal holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It is followed immediately by Black Friday, the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season. Canada has a Thanksgiving of its own, but it falls on the second Monday of October, five weeks earlier than the US date, and it has different historical origins.
The magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale spent 17 years campaigning for Thanksgiving to be made a national holiday, writing repeatedly to a series of presidents, before Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed it in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War. President Franklin D. Roosevelt then moved the date forward by a week in the years 1939 to 1941, hoping to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. The change proved unpopular, and in 1941 Congress passed a law fixing the holiday permanently on the fourth Thursday of November. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City has been held every year since 1924 and is one of the most-watched non-news broadcasts on US television. The presidential turkey pardon, in which the president spares a turkey from being eaten, became an annual tradition under President George H. W. Bush in 1989.
Frequently asked questions
When is Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving in the United States falls on the fourth Thursday of November, so the date moves each year between November 22 and November 28. It is always a Thursday, and the Friday after, Black Friday, is widely taken as an unofficial day off too, creating a long weekend. Canada keeps its own Thanksgiving on a different date, the second Monday of October. So the US and Canadian holidays share a name but fall about five weeks apart.
What is the origin of Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is usually traced to a harvest feast held in 1621 at Plymouth, in what is now Massachusetts, shared by the English colonists and the Wampanoag people. Days of thanksgiving for good harvests or other events were common in the period, so the 1621 feast was not unique, but it became the symbolic origin. The holiday was observed unevenly for two centuries until President Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving in 1863, setting it on the last Thursday of November.
Why is Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November?
President Lincoln's 1863 proclamation set Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it one week earlier, to give retailers a longer Christmas shopping season, since November sometimes has five Thursdays. The change was divisive, with some states keeping the old date. To settle the matter, Congress passed a law in 1941 fixing Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, which is usually but not always the last one.
What food is eaten at Thanksgiving?
The Thanksgiving meal is centred on a roast turkey, which is why the day is sometimes called Turkey Day. It is typically served with stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and seasonal vegetables. Pumpkin pie is the traditional dessert, often alongside pecan or apple pie. Particular dishes vary by region and family, and other roast meats are sometimes used instead of turkey, but the overall pattern of a large shared meal with these dishes is remarkably consistent across the country.
What is the difference between US and Canadian Thanksgiving?
The United States and Canada both celebrate Thanksgiving, but on different dates and with different histories. US Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November and is linked to the 1621 Plymouth harvest feast. Canadian Thanksgiving falls on the second Monday of October, about five weeks earlier, partly because the harvest comes sooner in Canada's climate. Both centre on a harvest-style meal with turkey, and both are family occasions, but they developed separately rather than one copying the other.