Thanksgiving may be most synonymous with the United States, but similar traditions of gratitude and harvest celebrations exist worldwide, many predating the Pilgrims’ 1621 feast at Plymouth Rock.
Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October, with roots in English explorer Martin Frobisher’s 1578 ceremony of thanks for his safe voyage to Newfoundland. Over time, the holiday’s purpose evolved. In 1957, Canada’s Parliament declared it a day to give thanks for the country’s bountiful harvest, officially separating it from November’s Remembrance Day.
In much of Catholic Europe, Martinmas on November 11 combines harvest traditions with the feast day of St. Martin of Tours. The date marks the transition from autumn to winter, a time for preparing food for the colder months. Children carry lanterns and parade through streets wishing neighbors a good harvest, while families enjoy a traditional roast goose dinner in honor of the saint.
Britain’s Harvest Festival, often regarded as the inspiration for the first Massachusetts Thanksgiving, dates back to pre-Christian times. Modern traditions, originating in 1843, include decorating churches with homegrown produce and singing hymns like “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” near the harvest moon, the full moon after the autumnal equinox.
Jewish communities celebrate Sukkot, the harvest festival of tabernacles, on the 15th day of the month of Tishri, corresponding to September or October. Observers build small huts of leaves and branches to commemorate the temporary dwellings used by Israelites during their exodus from Egypt, while celebrating the season’s bounty.
In East and Southeast Asia, China’s Mid-Autumn Festival is a time to honor the harvest, family, and the full moon. Vietnam’s Tet Trung Thu focuses on children, while Korea’s Chusok includes ancestor visits to thank them for the season’s abundance. Across these regions, crescent-shaped rice cakes filled with sweetened fruits are a staple of the festivities.
South India’s Pongal, in mid-January, is arguably one of the most colorful harvest celebrations. Families prepare the traditional sweet rice dish that gives the festival its name, honoring the sun and rain for their roles in the year’s crop yield. A day is also dedicated to cattle, with cows cleaned and adorned in flowers and bells to acknowledge their importance in agriculture.
West Africa’s yam festivals, celebrated in August or September, honor the harvest of this dietary staple. In Ghana, the festival of Homowo translates to “hoot at hunger,” a name embodied by giant yam parades and celebrations of the largest harvests.
Thanksgiving, in its many forms, is a universal tradition of gratitude that connects cultures across time and geography.
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Steven Hodel
