A special day to be grateful for and happy with all the good things in life.

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States (also in Canada, but on a different day) however adopted to many other places in the world. On this day, thanks are given, originally for the good harvest but nowadays for many other good things too. Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday in November, and it is celebrated with the entire family. As this day is on a Thursday, the additional Friday makes a four-day family reunion possible.

Food plays an important role, turkey is of course the traditional centrepiece on the table, consequently this day is often called Turkey Day. Apart from turkey, traditional dishes such as mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries and pecan or pumpkin pie for dessert, are also copied and served in many other countries.
Since J.F. Kennedy was president, it has even become a custom to have the President pardon a turkey that therefor will not end up at the table, the National Thanksgiving Turkey! This only happens in USA.

Dutch ties… thanksgiving dates back to 1621. In that year, the Pilgrim Fathers, the first English settlers, had a big celebration. Earlier that year, they had settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the harvest was good. From 1609 until their departure to America, the Pilgrim Fathers had lived in the Dutch cities of Leiden and in Rotterdam-Delfshaven – where the Pilgrim Fathers’ Church still stands today. Every year, during the Thanksgiving service, the English version of the Dutch hymn no. 414, Wilt Heden Nu Treden, is sung to the same melody: We Gather Together.

In 1864 Thanksgiving became a national holiday in the US under President Abraham Lincoln. Today, more and more people celebrate Thanksgiving as a holiday even so in the Netherlands. It sort of marks the start of the Dutch Holiday season in December, starting with the Saint Nicholas celebration on December 5 th .