When is Thanksgiving 2026?

Thanksgiving Around the World

Canadian Thanksgiving falls on the second Monday of October — nearly six weeks before the US date — reflecting Canada's earlier harvest season. While turkey is also the centrepiece, Canadian tables more commonly feature regional dishes such as tourtiere (a meat pie from Quebec) and butter tarts. The holiday is quieter and more low-key than its American counterpart, without the massive retail events that follow.

Beyond North America, harvest-thanksgiving traditions exist worldwide but on very different dates. Germany's Erntedankfest is celebrated on the first Sunday of October with church services and harvest crowns. Japan's Kinro Kansha no Hi (Labour Thanksgiving Day) on November 23rd evolved from an ancient harvest festival into a day honouring workers. Liberia, founded by freed American slaves, celebrates Thanksgiving on the first Thursday of November with traditions closely mirroring the US holiday. Grenada marks October 25th as Thanksgiving Day — commemorating the 1983 US-led intervention rather than a harvest festival.

Thanksgiving in the United States is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year. In 2026, Thanksgiving falls on November 26th. It is one of the most widely observed holidays in the country, centered on a large family meal and a spirit of gratitude.

Origins and History

The holiday is commonly traced to a harvest feast held in the autumn of 1621 between the Pilgrim settlers of Plymouth Colony and members of the Wampanoag Nation. The Pilgrims had endured a brutal first winter in the New World, and with the help of Wampanoag individuals — particularly Squanto, who taught them to cultivate native crops — they brought in a successful harvest. The resulting three-day celebration involved both communities sharing food, though it bore little resemblance to the modern holiday and was not repeated annually.

For most of the colonial period and early republic, Thanksgiving was observed sporadically and on varying dates set by individual governors and presidents. It was writer and editor Sarah Josepha Hale who campaigned for a national, annual Thanksgiving for over 30 years, writing letters to five successive presidents. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November, choosing it as a moment to encourage unity during a divided time.

The date was fixed to the fourth Thursday — rather than the last Thursday — in 1941 by an act of Congress, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt briefly moved it one week earlier in 1939 to extend the Christmas shopping season, a controversial decision that split the country between "Franksgiving" and traditional observers. Canadian Thanksgiving, by contrast, is celebrated on the second Monday of October.

Modern Traditions

The centerpiece of Thanksgiving is a large shared meal, almost always featuring roast turkey alongside stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, broadcast nationally since 1924, draws millions of television viewers and hundreds of thousands of spectators in New York City. American football is deeply embedded in the day, with NFL games airing throughout the afternoon and evening. The day after Thanksgiving — Black Friday — has evolved into one of the biggest shopping days of the year, and the holiday weekend now extends through Cyber Monday for online retail.