14 Thanksgiving Traditions and the Stories Behind Them Across America: Food, Family, Football & More

Thanksgiving in the United States grew from harvest celebrations and religious observances practiced long before it became a national holiday. In colonial New England, crops such as corn and squash were planted in spring and tended through summer, with many harvested from late summer into fall.

A successful harvest helped communities build up food supplies for the approaching winter. Indigenous peoples, including the Wampanoag, already had longstanding seasonal harvest celebrations and traditions of giving thanks before European colonists arrived.

Three historical milestones shaped the American holiday:

• 1621 — The Plymouth Harvest Celebration: Following their first successful autumn harvest, English colonists at Plymouth held a three-day feast attended by Wampanoag leader Ousamequin and about 90 Wampanoag men. The gathering took place within a political alliance established earlier that year. It later became known as the “First Thanksgiving,” although thanksgiving celebrations had existed in North America long before 1621.

• 1863 — A National Thanksgiving Observance: After years of campaigning by magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November a national day of thanksgiving and prayer during the Civil War. The observance also sought to encourage unity in a divided country.

• 1941 — A Fixed Federal Holiday: Following disagreements over President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision to move Thanksgiving earlier to extend the holiday shopping season, Congress established the fourth Thursday of November as the federal holiday, effective in 1942.

Thanksgiving's late-November date was established through these national observances, rather than being tied to the exact date of the 1621 harvest feast. The popular “First Thanksgiving” story also overlooks the displacement, violence, and loss of land Indigenous communities experienced as colonization expanded. 

Today, Native Americans have different relationships with the holiday. Some celebrate with family, while others observe the National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to remember that history.

Thanksgiving dinner is the centerpiece of the holiday for many American families, bringing relatives and friends together around a meal prepared especially for the occasion. Roast turkey, traditional side dishes, and seasonal pies form the familiar menu, with regional favorites and cultural food traditions adding variety to the table.

Roast turkey is the most recognizable centerpiece of a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. A whole bird is typically seasoned, roasted, and served with gravy, stuffing, and side dishes. In some families, carving the turkey is a small ritual of its own, often handled by the host or a designated family member.

Turkey became closely associated with Thanksgiving during the 19th century. Although wildfowl was served at the 1621 Plymouth harvest gathering, historical records do not confirm that turkey was the main dish. Sarah Josepha Hale's descriptions of Thanksgiving feasts, including those in her 1827 novel Northwood, helped establish the roasted bird in the holiday's popular imagery.

Turkey has a much longer history in North America. Indigenous communities domesticated turkeys independently in central Mexico and the southwestern United States long before European colonization. The domestic turkeys commonly raised for food today descend from the Mexican domesticated population.

Today, oven-roasting remains the classic preparation, although some households smoke or deep-fry their turkey. Others serve ham, seafood, or vegetarian alternatives, depending on family preferences and dietary needs.

Thanksgiving side dishes are often where regional food traditions and family preferences become most noticeable. Although turkey is widely recognized as the main course, the dishes served alongside it can vary considerably.

Some of the most familiar Thanksgiving sides include:

• Stuffing or dressing: A seasoned bread mixture, traditionally cooked inside poultry or baked separately. Cornbread dressing is especially associated with Southern cooking, while bread-based stuffing is familiar in other regions.

• Mashed potatoes and gravy: Creamy mashed potatoes served with gravy made from turkey drippings or stock.

• Sweet potatoes: Served baked, mashed, or as a casserole, sometimes topped with pecans or marshmallows.

• Cranberry sauce: A sweet-tart accompaniment made from cranberries, served homemade or canned. Cranberries are native to North America and have a long history of use by Indigenous peoples.

• Green bean casserole: Green beans combined with cream of mushroom soup and crispy fried onions. Dorcas Reilly developed the recipe at Campbell's in 1955, and it later became a familiar holiday side dish.

Regional favorites extend beyond these staples. Southern Thanksgiving tables may feature macaroni and cheese or collard greens, while Baltimore families have a longstanding tradition of serving sauerkraut, influenced by the city's German immigrant heritage. Other households include rice dishes, tamales, or foods connected to their cultural backgrounds.

Pie is a familiar Thanksgiving dessert, with many American families serving several varieties after the main meal. Although pumpkin pie is the holiday's most recognizable choice, other favorites reflect regional and cultural baking traditions.

Some popular Thanksgiving pies include:

• Pumpkin pie: Made with a smooth, spiced pumpkin filling, this New England favorite became a Thanksgiving staple during the 19th century.

• Pecan pie: A Southern favorite known for its rich, sweet filling and crunchy pecans.

• Apple pie: Baked with sliced apples and often cinnamon, it's a familiar fall dessert enjoyed across the country.

• Sweet potato pie: Made from mashed sweet potatoes, this dessert has deep roots in Southern and African American cooking.

Some families bake pies together ahead of Thanksgiving, while others pick up their favorites from a local bakery or bring a dessert to share.

Preparing Thanksgiving dinner is often a shared family task, with different people handling the turkey, side dishes, and desserts. Some families begin cooking the day before, while others gather in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning to prepare the meal together.

Family recipes can carry cultural traditions across generations. A handwritten recipe card or a grandmother's cornbread dressing may return to the table every year. In multicultural households, Thanksgiving menus might combine roast turkey and familiar sides with tamales, lumpia, or dishes from the family's own heritage.

The cooking often carries into the next day. Families may send guests home with containers of food, make turkey sandwiches with leftover stuffing and cranberry sauce, or turn the remaining turkey into soup. For some households, those next-day meals are as familiar as Thanksgiving dinner itself.

Beyond the holiday meal, Thanksgiving is shaped by the ways Americans gather, express gratitude, and celebrate at home. Family reunions, table rituals, gatherings with friends, and autumn decorations are familiar parts of the occasion.

Gathering with relatives and loved ones is one of the most widely practiced American Thanksgiving traditions. Families may travel to a parent's or grandparent's home, host several generations for dinner, or arrange smaller celebrations with people who live nearby.

According to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, 74% of U.S. adults planned to have Thanksgiving dinner with other people. Meals are often served earlier than a typical evening dinner, with many families gathering in the afternoon.

Thanksgiving travel is common, although many trips are relatively short. Among Americans planning to have dinner away from home, 89% expected to drive, and 69% anticipated a journey of less than an hour.

For relatives who live far apart, Thanksgiving may be one of the few opportunities to reunite during the year. Some families return to the same house every November, while others rotate hosting duties. Catching up with cousins, sharing family stories, or spending the afternoon with grandparents can become familiar parts of the holiday.

Expressing gratitude is one of Thanksgiving's defining traditions. Before eating, some families take turns sharing what they're thankful for, whether it's good health, supportive relationships, or something positive that happened during the year.

Others begin the meal by saying grace, a prayer or blessing that gives thanks for the food and the people gathered around the table. Saying grace is religious in nature, while expressing gratitude aloud can be practiced by people of any faith or none.

A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that:

• 69% of U.S. adults said someone at their Thanksgiving dinner typically expressed gratitude aloud.

• 65% said someone typically offered a prayer or blessing.

• 56% said both customs were practiced at their Thanksgiving dinner.

Some families prefer written traditions, such as placing thankful notes in a gratitude jar, writing messages on a reusable tablecloth, or exchanging short thank-you cards.

Giving thanks doesn't have to follow a particular ritual. For many people, Thanksgiving is simply an occasion to appreciate the people who supported them and the good things that happened over the past year.

Breaking the turkey wishbone is a playful Thanksgiving custom associated with good luck. The wishbone, anatomically called the furcula, is a Y-shaped bone formed by a bird's fused collarbones. After the turkey has been carved, the bone is removed, cleaned, and left to dry. Two people then make a wish, pull opposite ends of the bone, and whoever gets the larger piece is believed to have their wish granted.

Wishbone fortune-telling has roots in ancient Mediterranean folk traditions, although its exact path into American Thanksgiving customs is difficult to establish. By the 19th century, it was already a familiar holiday ritual. An 1864 illustration by Winslow Homer, Thanksgiving Day in the Army—After Dinner: The Wish-bone, depicts Union soldiers enjoying the custom during the Civil War.

Today, the wishbone is often saved for children, siblings, or other relatives to break after Thanksgiving dinner.

Friendsgiving is a Thanksgiving-style gathering held with friends, often in the days or weeks before the holiday. College students, roommates, and people living away from relatives may organize a Friendsgiving dinner before traveling home or celebrate it in place of a family gathering.

Many Friendsgiving meals are potlucks, with guests bringing different dishes to share. Turkey, stuffing, and pie are familiar choices, but groups may serve whatever foods they enjoy.

The term Friendsgiving combines friends and Thanksgiving. Merriam-Webster has documented its use as early as 2007, and the name became more widely recognized during the 2010s. Some people now celebrate Friendsgiving as their main Thanksgiving gathering, while others enjoy both occasions.

Thanksgiving parades and NFL football games are familiar parts of the holiday's television schedule, watched by families across the country. The annual White House turkey pardon is another nationally recognized event, taking place in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

For many American households, Thanksgiving morning starts with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television. Held in New York City, the parade features giant character balloons, decorated floats, marching bands, musical performances, and Santa Claus, whose appearance traditionally signals the approach of Christmas.

Macy's held its first parade in 1924, originally calling it the Macy's Christmas Parade. The department store organized the event to attract attention at the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Early processions featured costumed employees, decorated floats, and live animals from the Central Park Zoo.

The parade introduced its famous character balloons in 1927, replacing the live animals. Television broadcasts later brought the spectacle into homes across the country, and watching the parade while preparing Thanksgiving dinner became a familiar holiday routine.

Macy's is the best-known example, but other American cities have their own Thanksgiving parade traditions. Philadelphia began its parade in 1920, four years before Macy's, making it the oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States. Detroit started its parade in 1924, and both cities continue to celebrate with floats, balloons, and marching bands.

American football has been part of Thanksgiving celebrations since the late 19th century, beginning with college and school games. One early example was the 1876 Princeton–Yale game, which helped establish Thanksgiving as a popular date for football. Professional teams later adopted the custom, and NFL games became regular holiday programming.

Two NFL teams have particularly long Thanksgiving hosting traditions:

• Detroit Lions: Owner George A. Richards scheduled a Thanksgiving game against the Chicago Bears in 1934 to attract fans during the team's first season in Detroit. He also arranged a national radio broadcast, bringing attention to the game well beyond the city.

• Dallas Cowboys: Team executive Tex Schramm helped establish the Cowboys' Thanksgiving tradition in 1966, seeing the nationally televised game as a way to build the team's popularity.

The NFL added a third Thanksgiving game in 2006, creating the three-game schedule familiar to football fans today. Games typically run from the afternoon into the evening, so many households leave the television on while cooking, eating, or relaxing after dinner.

Some Americans also play their own Thanksgiving football games, often called Turkey Bowls. These informal matches bring relatives, friends, or neighbors together for touch football in a backyard, school field, or local park.

The Presidential Turkey Pardon is an annual White House Thanksgiving ceremony in which the U.S. president symbolically spares a turkey from becoming a holiday meal.

The practice grew out of a longer tradition of poultry producers presenting turkeys to American presidents. The National Turkey Federation began supplying birds for presidential holiday presentations in 1947, during Harry S. Truman's administration. Those early presentations were gifts for the White House table, rather than pardon ceremonies.

Some presidents later chose to spare the birds. John F. Kennedy sent a turkey back to its farm in 1963, and Ronald Reagan also allowed presented turkeys to live. The modern annual pardoning tradition became established in 1989, when President George H. W. Bush publicly granted a turkey a presidential pardon.

Today, the president typically gives a few remarks, announces the pardon, and poses with the birds before they are sent to a farm or another designated facility. The ceremony is symbolic; it does not involve the president's constitutional power to pardon people convicted of federal crimes.

Community food drives, charity meals, and Thanksgiving morning races bring neighbors together during the holiday season. Some events focus on helping people in need, while others combine a local celebration with fundraising for community organizations.

Giving back to the community is a familiar Thanksgiving custom, especially through food donations and holiday meal programs. Food banks, churches, shelters, and nonprofit organizations often organize these efforts to help households facing food insecurity or people who may not have a place to share a holiday meal.

People can contribute in several ways:

• Food drives: Donating canned goods, pantry staples, or other items requested by local food banks.

• Community Thanksgiving meals: Helping prepare, serve, or deliver meals through churches, shelters, and community organizations.

• Food bank volunteering: Sorting donations, packing grocery boxes, or helping distribute supplies to households.

• Monetary donations: Supporting organizations that purchase food and provide assistance during the holiday season.

In a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, 19% of U.S. adults said they were extremely or very likely to donate food or other goods around Thanksgiving, while 4% said the same about volunteering.

Some families make an annual tradition of contributing to a local food drive or helping serve a community meal. Food banks also need donations and volunteers throughout the year.

A Turkey Trot is a community running or walking event held on or around Thanksgiving, often on the morning before the holiday meal. Many feature 5K races, family-friendly walks, or longer routes for experienced runners.

The Buffalo YMCA Turkey Trot in New York began in 1896, when six runners competed in a five-mile race. It has been held annually ever since and is recognized as the world's oldest continuously held footrace. Today, it attracts thousands of participants.

Modern Turkey Trots welcome runners, walkers, and families, sometimes dressed in turkey hats or Thanksgiving costumes. Many events also raise money for local charities through registration fees, donations, or food collections.

For some families, participating in a Turkey Trot is a Thanksgiving morning routine before heading home for dinner. Others come to cheer on relatives or walk together. In Pew Research Center's 2024 survey, 3% of U.S. adults said they were extremely or very likely to join a community walk or run around Thanksgiving.