How 7 Other Nations Celebrate Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving seems a holiday that’s as American as apple pie, or pumpkin pie. But did you know there are variations of this holiday all around the globe? The dates and customs may vary, but the them all revolves around the concept of gratitude. Read on to see what 7 nations celebrate Thanksgiving:
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- GERMANY
A religious holiday that often takes place on the first Sunday of October, Erntedankfest is essentially a harvest festival that gives thanks for a good year and good fortune. In rural areas, the harvest aspect might be taken more literally, but churches in cities likewise hold festivities. This might include a procession where one wears Erntekrone, a harvest crown made of grain, flowers, and fruit. Although turkeys are making inroads, fattened up chickens, hens, castrated roosters, and geese are favored for the feast.
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- JAPAN
Kinrō Kansha no Hi is a national public holiday that Japan celebrates every November 23rd. Derived from ancient harvest festival rituals named Niinamesai, its modern meaning is more tied to a celebration of hard work and community involvement, hence its translation—Labor Thanksgiving Day. While Niinamesai’s traditions reach back thousands of years, Kinrō Kansha no Hi was created officially in 1948. It was intended to celebrate the rights of workers in post-World War II Japan. Today it is celebrated with labor organization-led festivities, and children creating crafts and gifts for local police officers.
- CANADA
Canadian Thanksgiving was first celebrated in 1578, when English explorer Martin Frobisher gave thanks for his fleet’s safe travels in present-day Nunavut. Parliament made it a national holiday in 1879. But in 1957, Parliament moved it from November 6th, declaring, “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed—to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.” Feasting on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn are common the weekend before. Vacations and parades are also traditional.
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- GRENADA
The West Indian island’s version of Thanksgiving shares no origin with America’s, and yet would not exist without the United States. Held on October 25th every year, Grenada’s Thanksgiving marks the anniversary of the 1983 U.S. military invasion to restore order after the death of communist leader Maurice Bishop. American soldiers who were stationed in the country the following month told locals about their upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, its signature feast, and its intention to focus on gratitude. To show their own gratitude, the people of Grenada worked in secret to surprise the soldiers with meals like those they longed for, complete with turkey and all the fixings. Today, it’s celebrated in formal ceremonies of remembrance.
- LIBERIA
A variation on America’s Thanksgiving can be found in the West African nation of Liberia, which was founded in the 19th century by freed slaves from the U.S. Mainly celebrated by Christians, Liberians take the concept of the cornucopia and fill their churches with baskets of local fruits like bananas, papayas, mangoes, and pineapples. An auction for these is held after the service, and then families retreat to their homes to feast. Concerts and dancing have evolved as a distinctive part of Liberia’s Thanksgiving traditions.
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- THE NETHERLANDS
For many of the pilgrims, England was just a layover on the way to America. Around 40 percent of the adults on the Mayflower were coming from Leiden in the Netherlands, where they lived and worked from 1609 to 1620. The Dutch have claimed influenceon several elements of colonial American life from this contact, including civil marriages, ladder-back chairs, and wood-planked house construction. Some even suggest the pilgrim’s Thanksgiving found inspiration in Leiden’s annual commemoration of the breaking of the Spanish siege of 1574. Regardless, the people of Leiden still celebrate the American settlers who once lived there with a non-denominational church service on the fourth Thursday of November. Afterwards, there’s no turkey, but cookies and coffee are offered.
- NORFOLK ISLAND
This small and remote Pacific Island that sits between Australia and New Zealand owes its Thanksgiving to contact with the U.S., specifically with its whalers in the mid-1890s. It began when American trader Isaac Robinson proposed decorating the All Saints Church with palm leaves and lemons, hoping to attract whalers to a Thanksgiving service/celebration. On the last Wednesday of November, families bring fruit and vegetables to the church to celebrate, tying cornstalks to pews, and decorating the altar with fresh flowers. Where they would once recollect their offerings afterwards, now these are sold to raise money for the church.
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