When Is Thanksgiving 2026? Dates, History, and the Rule

Thanksgiving 2026 in the United States is on Thursday, November 26. In Canada, Thanksgiving 2026 falls earlier, on Monday, October 12. The American date is set by a 1941 act of Congress fixing it to the fourth Thursday of November. The Canadian date is set by a 1957 parliamentary proclamation fixing it to the second Monday of October. The day of the week is fixed in both countries, but the calendar date moves each year.

When Is Thanksgiving 2026?

For US readers, Thanksgiving 2026 is Thursday, November 26. That places it on the latest possible calendar week the holiday can fall in: any later and it would slip into December. Black Friday follows on November 27, and the long Thanksgiving weekend runs Thursday through Sunday, November 29.

For Canadian readers, Thanksgiving 2026 is Monday, October 12. Canada celebrates earlier because the northern harvest finishes earlier; by mid-October the growing season is largely over from British Columbia to the Maritimes. The Canadian holiday is a statutory federal holiday in most provinces, with the notable exceptions of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, where it is optional.

Both countries land Thanksgiving on the same calendar day of the week every year, but the date itself drifts. The next time the US and Canadian Thanksgivings share a calendar week is never, by design: the two holidays are six to seven weeks apart by rule.

Thanksgiving Dates for the Next Five Years

Year	US Thanksgiving	Canadian Thanksgiving
2026	Thursday, November 26	Monday, October 12
2027	Thursday, November 25	Monday, October 11
2028	Thursday, November 23	Monday, October 9
2029	Thursday, November 22	Monday, October 8
2030	Thursday, November 28	Monday, October 14

The earliest US Thanksgiving can fall is November 22; the latest is November 28. The earliest Canadian Thanksgiving can fall is October 8; the latest is October 14. If you are planning travel, a wedding, or a family reunion years in advance, those windows are the dates to circle. Our Thanksgiving weather forecast updates each fall with the long-range outlook for the holiday week.

The History of Thanksgiving

The American Thanksgiving traces back to a three-day harvest feast shared by the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag in the autumn of 1621. The only firsthand description we have comes from a letter by Edward Winslow, who wrote of “their greatest king Massasoit” arriving with about ninety men, the company hunting fowl together, and the feast lasting three days. Venison and waterfowl were on the table; whether turkey was the centerpiece is open to debate.

Thanksgiving became a recurring American observance long before it was a federal holiday. George Washington issued the first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789 to honor the new national constitution. For the next several decades, states picked their own dates, and the holiday drifted from late October to mid-December depending on where you lived.

The push for a single national date came from Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book. Beginning in the 1840s, Hale wrote editorials and personal letters to five sitting US presidents urging them to set a uniform Thanksgiving. President Abraham Lincoln finally agreed. On October 3, 1863, Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national Day of Thanksgiving, and the first nationwide Thanksgiving was observed on November 26, 1863. The National Archives holds the original proclamation.

For the next seventy-six years, each US president reissued his own proclamation confirming the last Thursday of November. Then in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the date a week earlier, to the third Thursday, hoping to stretch the Depression-era Christmas shopping season. The move was unpopular. Twenty-three states followed Roosevelt’s earlier date, twenty-three states stuck with the last-Thursday tradition, and two states observed both. The two-Thanksgiving years are sometimes called “Franksgiving” in the history books.

The mess was sorted out by Congress. In 1941, a joint resolution fixed Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November in every state. Roosevelt signed it into law on December 26, 1941. The fourth Thursday has been the rule ever since.

How the Date Is Decided

The rule, in plain English:

• United States: The fourth Thursday in November. Fixed by Congress in 1941.
• Canada: The second Monday in October. Fixed by parliamentary proclamation in 1957.

That phrasing matters. “Fourth Thursday” is not the same as “last Thursday.” In years when November starts on a Thursday or Friday, the month contains five Thursdays, and the fourth Thursday falls a full week before the last one. November 2030 is the next such year: Thanksgiving lands on November 28, with a fifth Thursday on December 5 if you count beyond the month. The earliest possible US Thanksgiving is November 22 (when November 1 is a Thursday, putting the fourth Thursday on the 22nd); the latest is November 28.

Canada’s “second Monday in October” produces a tighter window. The earliest possible date is October 8; the latest is October 14. The rule has been in place since the Canadian Parliament’s January 31, 1957 proclamation, which set the date “for general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”

Canadian vs American Thanksgiving

The two Thanksgivings share a harvest theme and a turkey-dinner tradition, but they come from different histories and they land on different days for a reason.

Question	United States	Canada
When	Fourth Thursday in November	Second Monday in October
Why that date	Tied to the 1621 Plymouth harvest, formalized by Lincoln in 1863, fixed by Congress in 1941	Tied to the earlier northern harvest, formalized by Parliament in 1879, fixed to second Monday in 1957
Federal status	Federal holiday, all 50 states	Statutory holiday in most provinces; optional in NB, NS, PEI, NL
Length	Four-day weekend Thursday to Sunday	Three-day weekend Saturday to Monday
Origins claim	1621 Plymouth feast with the Wampanoag	Martin Frobisher’s 1578 service of thanks on Baffin Island
Centerpiece dish	Roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie	Roast turkey, stuffing, butter tarts, pumpkin or apple pie
Football tradition	NFL games on Thanksgiving Day	CFL Thanksgiving Day Classic

Both countries trace the harvest-thanks tradition back further than Plymouth. Many historians point to the English explorer Martin Frobisher, whose 1578 service of thanks on Baffin Island for safe passage home is sometimes cited as the first North American Thanksgiving. The Spanish in Florida and the French along the St. Lawrence held thanksgiving services earlier still. The point is that “first Thanksgiving” is a contested title; the 1621 Plymouth feast is the one that stuck in the American imagination because of Hale and Lincoln, not because it was first.

How to Celebrate Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in 2026 has the same shape it has had for generations: a long meal, the people you want at the table, and a quiet morning of cooking before everyone arrives. The specifics are yours to shape. A few traditions almost every household uses to anchor the day:

• The meal. Roast turkey is the headliner. Stuffing or dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green vegetables, dinner rolls, pumpkin or apple pie fill the rest of the table.
• A round of gratitude. Before the first plate is filled, many families pause for a moment of thanks. Some go around the table; others say grace; others just hold the silence.
• Parades. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has run in New York City since 1924. Most networks carry it live from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern.
• Football. The Detroit Lions have played on Thanksgiving since 1934 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1966. A third prime-time NFL game has been added since 2006. In Canada, the CFL Thanksgiving Day Classic is the Monday tradition.
• The leftovers. Day-two sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey pot pie, smoked-turkey stew. For a lot of families, the leftovers are the better meal.
• A walk. A short walk after dinner is the oldest piece of practical Thanksgiving advice we know.

Thanksgiving Recipes

A few Almanac favorites pulled from the archives:

• Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce
• It’s Winter Squash Season! Try These Varieties
• 3 Classic Stuffing Recipes
• Baked Stuffed Acorn Squash With Cranberry Apple Stuffing

Helpful Hints for the Cook

• Save leftover bread for stuffing. A weeks-ahead habit that pays off on the day.
• Keeping your turkey moist. The brine, the butter, the foil tent.
• Fluffier mashed potatoes. Warm milk, not cold, and a ricer if you have one.
• Cooking for a crowd? Our guide to scaling the meal up.

What to Do With the Leftovers

• Leftovers Sandwich 2 Ways. Assembling the classic sandwich two ways.
• Smoked Turkey Brunswick Stew. A Southern classic for the day-two dinner.

Riddles, Trivia, and Nostalgia

• Why did the turkey cross the road?
• 5 fun turkey facts.
• Jellied cranberry sauce: a side dish of nostalgia.
• Thanksgiving cactus versus Christmas cactus.

Thanksgiving Weather and Folklore

Late November is a turning-point week for North American weather. The polar jet has dropped south, the Great Lakes are still warm enough to feed lake-effect snow, and the first true Arctic outbreaks of the season tend to arrive in the run-up to Thanksgiving. The Almanac’s archive of Thanksgiving storms includes the 1983 blizzard that buried the upper Midwest under three feet of snow on the holiday weekend.

The folk reading of Thanksgiving weather is simple. A clear, mild Thanksgiving was traditionally taken as a sign of a mild start to winter; a cold, snowy Thanksgiving was a sign that winter had already settled in. Like most weather lore, the rule holds in some years and not in others. We pair it with the long-range forecast for whatever it is worth, and we plan with both in mind.

Plan Your Thanksgiving

Mark Thursday, November 26, 2026 if you celebrate the American Thanksgiving, or Monday, October 12, 2026 if you celebrate the Canadian one. The grocery list, the guest list, and the cooking schedule are yours; the date is the one fixed point on the calendar. A few small habits that make the day easier:

• Order the turkey two weeks ahead. Fresh birds at the local farm shop are usually spoken for by mid-November.
• Check the Thanksgiving weather forecast a week out, especially if anyone is driving more than an hour.
• Plan the menu around what is in season locally. Winter squash, cranberries, apples, and root vegetables are at their best the week of the holiday.
• Save bread crusts and stale ends in the freezer through October and November for the stuffing.
• Set the table the night before.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Thanksgiving 2026?

US Thanksgiving 2026 is Thursday, November 26. Canadian Thanksgiving 2026 is Monday, October 12. Black Friday follows the US holiday on November 27, 2026.

Why is Thanksgiving on a Thursday?

President Abraham Lincoln set the holiday on the last Thursday of November in his 1863 proclamation, following Sarah Josepha Hale’s two-decade campaign. Thursday was the day of weekly Puritan lectures and prayer in colonial New England, so it carried a long tradition as a day for public thanks. Congress kept the Thursday in the 1941 act that fixed Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November.

When is Canadian Thanksgiving?

Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday of October. In 2026 the date is Monday, October 12. The earlier date reflects Canada’s earlier harvest. It has been fixed to the second Monday since a Canadian parliamentary proclamation on January 31, 1957.

Was Thanksgiving always on the fourth Thursday?

No. From 1863 to 1938, Thanksgiving was the last Thursday in November. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the date to the third Thursday to extend the Christmas shopping season; the change was contested state by state and produced two-Thanksgiving years sometimes called “Franksgiving.” Congress settled the question in 1941, fixing the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, where it has stayed.

Is Thanksgiving a federal holiday?

Yes. US Thanksgiving is a federal holiday across all fifty states; federal offices, banks, post offices, and the stock market are closed. Canadian Thanksgiving is a statutory federal holiday and a statutory holiday in most provinces. It is optional in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday 2026 is Friday, November 27, the day after US Thanksgiving. The name dates to 1960s Philadelphia, where police used it to describe the crowded shopping-and-football traffic the day after the holiday. The four-day weekend (Thursday through Sunday) is the busiest retail stretch of the US year.

Was the first Thanksgiving really at Plymouth in 1621?

The 1621 Plymouth harvest feast is the one that shaped American tradition, but it was not the first thanksgiving service in North America. The English explorer Martin Frobisher held a service of thanks on Baffin Island in 1578; Spanish and French settlers held thanksgiving services in Florida and along the St. Lawrence before 1621. The Plymouth feast became the founding story because of Sarah Josepha Hale’s 19th-century campaign, not because it was first.

When is Thanksgiving 2027?

US Thanksgiving 2027 is Thursday, November 25. Canadian Thanksgiving 2027 is Monday, October 11. The two dates are six weeks and three days apart.

Join the Discussion

What does Thanksgiving look like at your house? Family-recipe stuffing, a deep-fried turkey, the parade on in the kitchen, the football game on in the living room, the after-dinner walk, the second pie at 9 p.m.? Tell us in the comments below, and tell us what you would like added to this page next year.