November 26 Holidays

Thanksgiving is a U.S. federal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November — rooted in the 1621 harvest feast shared by the Wampanoag people and the Plymouth colonists — observed with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and family gatherings that generate more domestic travel than any other American holiday. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the annual balloon-and-float procession through Midtown Manhattan that Macy’s has held since 1924 — featuring helium balloons modeled on popular characters, celebrity performances, and the arrival of Santa Claus. National Day of Mourning is held by the United American Indians of New England on Thanksgiving, on Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts, since 1970 — reclaiming the Thanksgiving narrative and mourning the disease, displacement, and violence that followed the 1621 feast. Good Grief Day was established on Thanksgiving to acknowledge the grief that family holidays intensify for people who have lost loved ones.