The Celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States of America

Since about 150 years Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States of America; however this holiday has been often bounced around and redefined. It is during the twentieth century that it has been definitively scheduled at the end of November and became a Federal holiday.

Even though it derived from pagan festivals, this celebration has taken a more religious aspect upon adoption by the settlers. Though set aside as a day to thank God for the generosity of Mother Nature, this is not obligatory. With its sources in the English and European harvest festival traditions, the United States of America Thanksgiving has been devoted to celebrating the end of harvest season and being appreciative of all the good things we have.

Although not the first Thanksgiving celebration in the history of this land, the "official" starting point is taken from the Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts. This is the reason why the basic ornaments include Pilgrims, pumpkins, Indians and turkeys. In honor of the harvest, corn stalks, ears, cornucopias and gourds are also represented into Thanksgiving Day displays. This topic is also often revisited by a lot of religious establishments and schools through plays or pageants.

What would be holidays without special traditions?

One of these special traditions is that Thanksgiving is one of two great events designated to gather families around a traditional meal. Beside the basic turkey are cooked other Native American aliments like mashed sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, corn, and cranberry sauce. Believers always offer a prayer to God before the meal. It is also the time for charitable organizations to put together food drives they will distribute as Thanksgiving meals poor people.

The biggest and most popular parades of the year are Thanksgiving Day parades. These events are competing with the Christmas parades and generally even beat them!

Like the turkey, American Football has become an important Thanksgiving tradition. On this particular day major football leagues hold special game events and several of teams play during this day. On the collegiate level, it is the end of their football season and the games played near the Thanksgiving Day holiday are traditionally scheduled as longstanding Rivalry Matches between schools.

The last but not the least Thanksgiving tradition is the one that takes place the next day. The official opening of the Christmas shopping season is the very next day of this festival and is known as "Black Friday". It is the opportunity for retail stores to launch major sale promotions.