每逢感恩節這一天，美國舉國上下熱鬧非常，基督徒按照習俗前往教堂做感恩祈禱，城市鄉鎮到處都有化裝遊行、戲劇表演或體育比賽等。分別了一年的親人們也會從天南海北歸來，一家人團圓，品嚐以“火雞”為主的感恩節美食。
【感恩節簡介】
Thanksgiving Day is the most truly American of the national Holidays in the United States and is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country. In 1620, the settlers, or Pilgrims, they sailed to America on the May flower, seeking a place where they could have freedom of worship.
After a tempestuous two-month voyage they landed at in icy November, what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. During their first winter, over half of the settlers died of starvation or epidemics. Those who survived began sowing in the first spring.
All summer long they waited for the harvests with great anxiety, knowing that their lives and the future existence of the colony depended on the coming harvest.
Finally the fields produced a yield rich beyond expectations. And therefore it was decided that a day of thanksgiving to the Lord be fixed.
Years later, President of the United States proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day every year. The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that date until today.
The pattern of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner table, people will find apples, oranges, chestnuts, walnuts and grapes. There will be plum pudding, mince pie, other varieties of food and cranberry juice and squash.
The best and most attractive among them are roast turkey and pumpkin pie. They have been the most traditional and favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years.
Everyone agrees the dinner must be built around roast turkey stuffed with a bread dressing to absorb the tasty juices as it roasts. But as cooking varies with
families and with the regions where one lives, it is not easy to get a consensus on the precise kind of stuffing for the royal bird. Thanksgiving today is, in every sense, a national annual holiday on which Americans of all faiths and backgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year' s bounty and reverently ask for continued blessings.
【加拿大感恩節】
加拿大感恩節的慶祝活動是在十月的第二個星期一。與美國人緬懷清教徒先輩定居新大陸的傳統不同，加拿大人主要感謝上天給予的成功的收穫。加拿大的感恩節早於美國的感恩節，一個簡單的事實是，加拿大的`收穫季節相對於美國早一些，因為加拿大更靠近北部。加拿大的感恩節通常被認為受三個傳統習慣的影響。
其一是來自歐洲傳統的影響。從大約2000年以前最早的一次收穫開始，人們就已經慶祝豐收，感謝富饒的大自然給予他們的恩施和好運。當歐洲人來到加拿大後，也將這一傳統帶入加拿大，並對後來加拿大感恩節的傳統產生影響。
其二是英國探險家慶祝生存的影響。在清教徒登陸美國馬薩諸塞的40年之前，加拿大就舉行了第一個正式的感恩節。在1578年，一位英國探險家命名馬釘法貝瑟(Martin Frobisher)試圖發現一個連線東方的通道，不過他沒有成功。
但是他在現今的加拿大紐芬蘭省建立了定居點，並舉行了一個慶祝生存和收穫的宴餐。其它後來的移居者繼續這些“感恩”儀式。這一次被認為是加拿大的第一個感恩節。
其三的影響來自於後來的美國。1621年的秋天，遠涉重洋來到美洲新大陸的英國移民，為了感謝上帝賜予的豐收，舉行了3天的狂歡活動。從此，這一習俗就沿續下來，並逐漸風行各地。在美國革命其間，美國一批忠於英皇室的保皇黨遷移到加拿大，也將美國感恩節的習慣和方式帶到了加拿大。
1750年慶祝豐收的活動被來自美國南部的移居者帶到了新四科舍(Nova Scotia)，同時，法國移居者到達，並且舉行“感恩”宴餐。這些均對加拿大的感恩節產生了深遠的影響。
1879 年加拿大議會宣稱11月6日是感恩節和全國性的假日。在隨後的年代，感恩節的日期改變了多次，直到在1957 年1月31日，加拿大議會宣佈每年十月的第二個星期一為感恩節，在這一天感謝萬能的上帝保佑加拿大並給予豐富的收穫。
