How the Date Is Determined

Thanksgiving lands on a set weekday, not a set date, so it shifts a little each year.

Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November. That places it between November 22 and November 28. Congress set this rule in a joint resolution (an act passed by both houses of Congress) signed on December 26, 1941. Watch the wording: it is the fourth Thursday, not the last. Some Novembers have five Thursdays, and then Thanksgiving is not the final one. The law ties it to a Thursday, so no weekend observance rule is needed.

History

The story usually starts with the three-day harvest feast of 1621. About 50 Plymouth colonists and 90 Wampanoag shared it. The food was likely venison and waterfowl, not today's turkey and pie. For centuries after, leaders called for days of thanksgiving now and then. George Washington did so in 1789.

Magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale pushed for a national holiday for 17 years. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed one for the last Thursday of November 1863. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it a week earlier to stretch the Depression-era shopping season. People mocked the change as "Franksgiving." The 1941 law settled it on the fourth Thursday.

Traditions and Celebrations

Thanksgiving is the classic American family meal: turkey (about 46 million each year), stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Common traditions around the table include:

  • The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, held since 1924.
  • NFL football, with the Detroit Lions hosting on Thanksgiving since 1934.
  • The presidential turkey pardon at the White House.
  • Turkey trot road races, which make Thanksgiving the biggest race day of the year.
  • "Friendsgiving" gatherings in the days around it.

Planning Around Thanksgiving

Federal and state offices, banks, markets, and schools close on Thursday. Most schools take Wednesday through Friday off. The week around it is the busiest travel period of the year. AAA estimates about 80 million travelers. The TSA has recorded its highest screening days ever on the Sunday after. The Wednesday before is the worst day to drive. So book flights weeks ahead and leave extra drive time. The next day starts the holiday shopping season with Black Friday. See the full week on the 2026 holidays calendar.