Thanksgiving. When you hear this word, you probably think of turkeys, cornucopias, and the story of the Pilgrims. Maybe you even think everyone in the world celebrates it. If you thought that, you may be surprised to learn that Thanksgiving is only an official national holiday in five countries, the United States, Canada, Liberia, Brazil, and Saint Lucia. Also, most of these countries don’t even celebrate on the same day that we do here in the United States.
Let’s start with Canada. Thanksgiving (or l’Action de grâce in French Canadian) takes place on the 2nd Monday of October there, as this is closer to their harvest season. In Canada, Thanksgiving is a public holiday (meaning businesses are closed) except for in the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
In Liberia, a West African country, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the first Thursday of November. It is celebrated there because Liberia was formerly a colony of the United States. Despite being very similar, the Liberian Thanksgiving does have its differences. For example, Thanksgiving in the United States is heavily associated with food, such as turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pies, etc. However, while some Liberians do choose to celebrate with a large meal, like in the US, it is not as much of a food holiday. Additionally, many use it as a day to to go to religious ceremonies.
In Brazil, Thanksgiving is called Dia de Ação de Graças, which translates to National Thanksgiving Day. It was made a national holiday in 1949 after Ambassador Joaquim Nabuco saw a celebration at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manahattan. The holiday is religious; it is observed by many Brazilian churches.
Next is Saint Lucia, an island country in the Carribean. Saint Lucia celebrates Thanksgiving on the first Monday of October; it is a day to celebrate the harvest and that the Hurricane season, which is usually between August and September, is over. Now that we have finished all of the countries that celebrate Thanksgiving as national holidays, let’s see what countries also celebrate Thanksgiving.
We’ll start with Australia, where Thanksgiving is only widely celebrated in Norfolk Island. It is celebrated on the last Wednesday of November, and is celebrated because it was often visited by American whalers and sailors. However, the tradition has spread, and people in other parts of Australia also celebrate Thanksgiving.
In the Netherlands, Thanksgiving is celebrated twice. The first is by the Pieterskerk, a church in Leiden. Many of the Pilgrims who fled England first moved to Leiden before settling in the colony of Plymouth, and at the Pieterskerk they recorded information about themselves. Each third Thursday of November, there is a non-religious commemeration at the church that remembers how they were welcomed to the Netherlands. The other Dutch version is religious and observed by Protestant churches. It is on the first Wednesday of November, and its name in Dutch is Dankdag voor Gewas en Arbeid, which translates to “Day of Thanksgiving for Crops and Labor”, it is called “Dankdag” for short. People who celebrate it attend church on that day.
The next country is Germany, where it is called Erntedankfest, which translates to The Harvest Thanksgiving Festival. It is celebrated on the first Sunday of October, and is mainly religious, as many churches decorate for the holiday, and there are religious parades. There are also outdoor celebrations with music.
United Kingdom is next, where the full name is The Harvest Festival of Thanksgiving. There is no set date in the UK, but it is usually observed on a Sunday near the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Festival of Thanksgiving dates back to the Saxons, who offered firsts of their crops to their gods, and had a harvest supper together once the harvest was over. Even now, the holiday is remembered by singing, praying, and donating to charities.
The Philippines celebrate Thanksgiving too, as they were an American colony from 1901 to 1946. During WWII, they celebrated in secret, and continued to do this until 1969, even thought the war was over. They celebrated it on they same day as in the US, until in 1973, when the date was changed to September 21. When the date was changed, the reason for celebration was as well; it was to celebrate the martial law, which means that the military serves as the government. The law was imposed by former Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos. Since then however, Thanksgiving is no longer a national holiday, but it is still celebrated.
All in all, no matter where you go in the world, and whatever Thanksgiving means to you, always make sure to be thankful and have gratitude. Even people on opposite sides of the world may think they have nothing in common, yet people everywhere are joined by Thanksgiving.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving
https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/thanksgiving-in-germany/
https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/saint-lucia/thanksgiving-day
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/11/8-other-countries-that-celebrate-thanksgiving/
