When is Thanksgiving 2026? Thanksgiving Day will be celebrated on Thursday, November 26, in the United States. It remains a federal holiday, and the date again lands on the fourth Thursday of November.
The calendar answer is fixed, but the holiday carries a longer history. Families in the United States use the day as the start of one of the year’s biggest weekends for gatherings, travel, and year-end shopping.
Edward Winslow and 1621
The modern holiday traces to a 1621 harvest meal. In 1620, European pilgrims arrived in North America after crossing the Atlantic Ocean in search of religious freedom, and their first winter was marked by freezing temperatures, disease, and food shortages.
During the following spring, Members of the Wampanoag helped the settlers grow corn and other native crops, and they showed them how to fish and hunt in the region. In the fall of 1621, the pilgrims gathered for a banquet to thank God for their survival and the food they had obtained.
Edward Winslow’s letters, published in 1850, helped make that early meal part of the public record. The meal included venison, turkey, fruits, and vegetables, and members of the indigenous community attended it.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
After the independence of the thirteen colonies, President George Washington promoted a national day of thanksgiving. Thomas Jefferson later expressed reservations about government promotion of a holiday with such a strong religious component, and different presidents changed the date for several years.
Abraham Lincoln later re-established Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of November. That is why the holiday now falls on a date that can be checked far in advance, while still keeping its place at the center of a long weekend for Families in the United States.
Thanksgiving Day 2026
For readers planning ahead, the practical answer is simple: Thanksgiving Day 2026 will be Thursday, November 26. That date sets the rhythm for family travel, holiday meals, and the first stretch of the shopping season that follows.
