Thanksgiving Around the World
Thanksgiving is one of the biggest celebrated holidays during the year in the United States and around the world. And although it is a holiday for giving thanks there are several different thanksgiving traditions and different reasons why we have them.
Americans generally celebrate Thanksgiving by having a big dinner with family and friends. The first thanksgiving of course was celebrated in Plymouth in 1620 after the Pilgrims had gone through a difficult year of death and cold winters. The native Indians were extremely helpful in helping to harvest their crops and keeping them alive so they were also invited to take part in the harvest celebration. It lasted three days and consisted of wild fowl, berries, and things like dried fruit. Today our traditions of giving thanks have escalated to much more food and family. There are people all over the world that celebrate thanksgiving also in different ways. Let’s take a look at some different countries and how they celebrate Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving traditions in Canada
In our neighboring country of Canada they celebrate Thanksgiving much like the Americans but during the month of October. Observance of this day began in 1879 and continues yearly. Canadian traditions are almost exactly the same as Americans with turkey, stuffing, with mashed potatoes and everything to go with it. Sometimes Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving by cooking a ham or lamb instead of turkey.
Thanksgiving traditions in China
Thanksgiving traditions in China are called the August Moon Festival or Mid Autumn Festival. The festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. When the harvest season is over the Chinese people have a big feast that includes moon cakes. This is a form of giving thanks for the good harvest of the year. Legends say that the moon shines brightest on this day and it is the best day to go out and make new friends.
Thanksgiving traditions in Vietnam
The Vietnamese celebrate Thanksgiving and call it Tet Trung Thu or Mid Autumn Festival. It is much like the Chinese as it is celebrated also on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. The day is planned around the children as the festival is a Children’s festival and the activities for this day are mostly for children. At dawn there is a candlelit lantern procession which represents brightness and success. Other activities for the day consist of arts and crafts for children, dances, and contests that people can win prizes in.
Thanksgiving traditions in India
Thanksgiving is known as Pongal in India; a popular harvest festival in South India. It is named after a sweet rice dish. The celebration starts on January 14th and lasts three days. The first day of the festival they off pongal to Bhogi or Indran (the rain gods) thanking them for giving the Indians rain for the harvest. The second day of pongal is offered to Surya (the sun), and the third day is to celebrate the cattle for their hard work in helping to harvest the crops. They even dress the cattle up for the celebration. They too have a large feast that everyone will bring food to, commemorating the good harvest.
There are dozens of thanksgiving traditions around the world and different reasons why they are celebrated. In general however, all come down to the fact that Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks and to generally celebrate a bountiful harvest.