What Nations Have fun Thanksgiving? 15 Traditions From Across the World
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The primary US Thanksgiving celebrated a profitable fall harvest and the continued well being of Seventeenth-century American pilgrims. Immediately, Thanksgiving celebrants present gratitude for household and buddies—in addition to good meals. (Go the turkey and cranberry sauce, please!)
However is Thanksgiving solely an American vacation? It relies upon who you’re asking, and what you imply by “Thanksgiving.” Be taught what international locations have a good time Thanksgiving or different fall harvest festivals and the way they’re completely different from (or much like) an American Thanksgiving celebration.
1. Canada: Canadian Thanksgiving
Like its US counterpart, the primary Canadian Thanksgiving introduced Canadian pilgrims collectively to provide thanks for his or her new lives within the New World. This celebration even pre-dates the primary American Thanksgiving, as it came about in 1578 after English explorer Martin Frobisher made a profitable passage close to present-day Newfoundland. (Historians imagine that the primary American Thanksgiving came about in 1621, over 40 years later.)
Immediately, Canadian Thanksgiving takes place on the second Monday of October, about six weeks earlier than Individuals begin carving their turkeys. And talking of turkey, the Canadian Thanksgiving unfold appears to be like much like their southern neighbors, although conventional poutine (french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy) generally makes its means onto the dinner desk!
2. United Kingdom: Harvest Competition of Thanksgiving
Each US and Canadian Thanksgiving have roots in the UK’s annual Harvest Competition. Celebrated on the closest Sunday to the Harvest Moon, this pageant dates again to pagan traditions in Britain—as early because the fourth or fifth century!
Immigrants from Britain introduced these traditions to their new lands, together with American and Canadian Fashionable Harvest Festivals that includes a bountiful supper of autumn crops and greens, in addition to meals donations and church companies.
3. Netherlands: Dankdag
Do you know that the Dutch performed an necessary function in America’s first Thanksgiving? Earlier than touchdown in Massachusetts, English immigrants spent a number of years dwelling within the Netherlands, particularly within the city of Leiden. They introduced a lot of their customs to their new (momentary) residence, together with the follow of expressing gratitude for a profitable fall harvest.
Whereas Thanksgiving isn’t thought of a serious vacation, Dankdag remains to be celebrated in Leiden. Residents get pleasure from an American-style Thanksgiving dinner after a church service at Pieterskerk. And in the event that they reside close to Beschuitsteeg, they’ll discover the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum as a tribute to their lengthy friendship with the pilgrims.
4. Japan: Kinro Kansha no Hello
The Thanksgiving vacation in Japan generally known as Kinro Kansha no Hello (Labor Thanksgiving Day), takes place on November twenty third every year. However although it’s near American Thanksgiving on the calendar, its historical past dates again a lot additional—over 2,000 years!
Historians date the primary Japanese Thanksgiving celebration to the seventh century B.C.E. It started as a harvest pageant generally known as Niiname-sai (Imperial Harvest Ritual) that celebrated the primary rice crop of the 12 months.
After World Struggle II, Niiname-sai moved away from its imperialist roots to Kinro Kansha no Hello, a vacation that expresses gratitude towards Japan’s labor drive (much like combining Thanksgiving and Labor Day in America). Immediately, celebrants get pleasure from a time without work from work or faculty, write thank-you notes to laborers, and revel in seasonal dishes.
5. India: Pongal
In South India, sooner or later of Thanksgiving merely isn’t sufficient. The Hindu celebration of Pongal is a four-day pageant the place celebrants give thanks for the gods’ blessings of their lives.
Pongal comes from the Tamil phrase pongu, that means “to boil over” or “overflow,” and the normal name Pongalo Pongal! (“Let it boil over!”) refers to each milk and blessings overflowing.
The days of Pongal, which occur in the midst of January, embrace:
- Day 1, Bhogi Pongal (Day of Renewal): Celebrants honor Lord Indra, the god of rain, and discard outdated issues to create space for brand spanking new ones.
- Day 2, Surya Pongal (Day of the Solar): The primary celebration day focuses on honoring the Solar God, a bringer of prosperity and abundance, and to boil milk and rice, the place celebrants name Pongalo Pongal! because the milk boils over.
- Day 3, Maatu Pongal (Day of the Cattle): Celebrants give thanks for Maatu (cattle) for his or her contributions within the harvest.
- Day 4, Kaanum Pongal (Day of Enjoyment): It is a probability to loosen up, get pleasure from time with family members, and share a feast with the neighborhood.
6. Brazil: Dia de Ação de Graças
Whenever you hear Feliz Dia de Ação de Graças, it’s Thanksgiving in Brazil. When speaking about what international locations have a good time Thanksgiving, Brazil is the one nation on the checklist in South America.
Brazilian Thanksgiving, generally known as Dia de Ação de Graças in Portuguese, follows the American custom of a harvest feast on the fourth Thursday in November. It grew to become a nationwide Brazilian vacation in 1949 as a method to unify the Brazilian folks.
Although not broadly celebrated in Brazil, Dia de Ação de Graças is catching on every year. A Thanksgiving feast in Brazil contains many American staples, together with turkey (generally known as peru in Portuguese), mashed potatoes (purê de batatas), and apple pie (torta de maçã). A couple of Brazilian specialties, such because the nation’s nationwide dish, feijoada, would possibly make an look as nicely.
7. Germany: Erntedankfest
Vacationers planning to go to Germany within the fall ought to add the phrase Frohes Erntedankfest (“Joyful Harvest Thanksgiving pageant!”) to their vocabulary! Like Britain and lots of different European international locations, Germany celebrates the primary main harvest of the season with a giant pageant. Erntedankfest doesn’t have an official date, nevertheless it usually takes place between early October and late November, generally coinciding with Martinstag (St. Martin’s Day).
Different German-speaking international locations, reminiscent of Austria and Switzerland, additionally have a good time Erntedankfest to watch the autumn harvest. Erntedankfest traditions embrace parades, church companies, live shows, fireworks, and a harvest feast, the place turkey (Truthahn) is a vacation dinner favourite.
8. South Korea: Chuseok
Meals, household, and custom are the main focus of Korean Thanksgiving, generally known as Chuseok (autumn night). Traced again to historic Korean celebrations of the harvest, Chuseok is a three-day vacation the place South Korean celebrants journey to their ancestral hometowns to organize and revel in songpyeon, a conventional rice cake stuffed with candy or savory components and steamed on pine needles.
Chuseok usually takes place in mid-September or early October on the Gregorian calendar, however its precise date is the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. In the event you’re planning a visit to South Korea throughout this time of 12 months, use the Rosetta Stone App to entry reside classes and tales and strengthen your Korean earlier than the vacations.
9. Liberia: Liberian Thanksgiving
Liberians have a good time Thanksgiving on the primary Thursday of November every year. It combines American Thanksgiving traditions with non secular rituals to thank God for blessings from the 12 months, together with meals, well being, and good climate. As a result of English is the first language of Liberia, guests can greet celebrants with “Joyful Thanksgiving!”
In contrast to Thanksgiving celebrations in different elements of the world, Liberian Thanksgiving isn’t a harvest pageant, as their harvests are sometimes over by November. Liberians might not put together a conventional meal for Liberian Thanksgiving, or they might serve a feast with each American Thanksgiving meals with conventional African meals like jollof rice (much like Cajun jambalaya) or fufu (cassava dough served with meat stew).
10. Mexico: Día de Acción de Gracias
In the event you’re on the lookout for a Thanksgiving feast that encapsulates the complete North American continent, look no additional than a Mexican celebration of Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving Day).
With a regional twist on conventional American Thanksgiving dishes, reminiscent of apple pie empanadas and turkey enchiladas, many Mexicans embrace the spirit of giving thanks whereas spending time with household and buddies. As a result of Mexico is so near america, Día de Acción de Gracias normally happens on the identical day as American Thanksgiving.
It’s not broadly celebrated all through Mexico, however as extra households journey to and from Mexico through the vacation season, Thanksgiving has change into a fond mainstay in lots of elements of the nation.
11. Norfolk Island: Thanksgiving
New Zealanders and Australians don’t usually have a good time Thanksgiving—except they reside on Norfolk Island, a small Australian territory northeast of Sydney. Thanksgiving on Norfolk Island is a holdover from Nineteenth-century American whalers who celebrated the vacation throughout their keep on the island.
Immediately, the practically 2,000 inhabitants of Norfolk Island have a good time the vacation on the final Wednesday in November. After a Thanksgiving Day church service, they get pleasure from a lunch of American Thanksgiving dishes, banana pilaf, and fish salad with their neighborhood. Thanksgiving celebrants typically enhance with fall harvest imagery reminiscent of corn stalks and pumpkins, although November is springtime of their a part of the world!
12. China: Mid-Autumn Competition
After the Harvest Moon seems within the eighth month of the lunar calendar, it’s time for Zhōngqiū Jié, China’s Mid-Autumn Competition. This vacation takes place on the identical day as South Korea’s Chuseok and can also be celebrated in Cambodia (the place it’s generally known as Bon Om Touk), Vietnam (Tết Trung Thu), Indonesia (Lantern Competition), and lots of different international locations in Asia. In elements of Japan, the pageant is named Tsukimi.
Lanterns and moonlight are a giant focus of the Mid-Autumn pageant. Celebrants write needs on ornamental lanterns and float them within the air or show them of their properties. Additionally they make and revel in mooncakes, that are candy dough truffles stuffed with lotus seed paste, purple beans, or ice cream. In elements of China and different international locations, the Mid-Autumn Competition is marked with feasts, parades, and household celebrations.
13. Ghana: Homowo Competition
In Ghana, Thanksgiving is a time to have a good time meals—and to mock starvation! The Homowo Competition comes from the Ga phrase Homowo, that means “to hoot at” or ridicule starvation, and it originated from an ample summer time harvest after a historic famine. The pageant takes place in late August or early September and has roots within the Jewish custom of Passover.
A Homowo celebration features a interval of meditation and prayer, conventional dances, beating drums, a day of settling disagreements (generally known as Ngorwala) and feasts centered across the holy dish of kpokpoi, consisting of fermented corn meal and fish.
14. Rwanda: Umuganura Day
Umuganura Day is a day of unity in Rwanda to have a good time the harvest as a neighborhood. {The summertime} cultural pageant honors Rwandan elders by giving them the primary fruits of the harvest (Umuganura means “first fruits” within the Kinyarwanda language) and sharing the most effective crops with these whose harvests didn’t fare as nicely.
Colonial powers ended Umuganura in 1925, nevertheless it grew to become a public vacation as soon as extra in 2011. Rwandans now use the pageant to have a good time the nation’s independence from colonialism. Additionally they pay homage to their ancestors and provides because of God for an ample summer time harvest with a feast of candy potatoes, cassava, pumpkins, and banana beer.
15. Poland: Dożynki
The Polish harvest pageant, Dożynki, dates again to the sixteenth century when landowners shared the bounty of the harvest with the land’s employees. The historic celebration included dancing, feasting, and crafting harvest wreaths to make sure fertility for the subsequent harvest.
Immediately, the pageant nonetheless contains feasts and harvest wreaths. Fashionable Dożynki celebrations incorporate non secular parts, together with a pilgrimage to Jasna Góra in Częstochowa. Polish celebrants even gown in conventional outfits as they share within the harvest.
What number of international locations have a good time Thanksgiving?
Throughout their Thanksgiving celebrations, these 16 international locations (together with the US) give thanks for household, good well being, a powerful harvest, and numerous different blessings. Some Thanksgiving holidays are non secular observances, whereas others are multi-day festivals that convey the neighborhood collectively. However irrespective of how they have a good time or whether or not the phrase “Thanksgiving” is within the title, the spirit of gratitude is there.
Harvest time isn’t the one time to provide thanks, nonetheless. Different cultures have a good time historic triumphs over adversity, such because the Jewish celebration of Sukkot or the Italian Olivagando pageant. Regardless of the place you journey, you’ll discover folks appreciating their lives—and normally some wonderful regional meals!
