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Many countries around the world celebrate their own forms of Thanksgiving.  Most, but not all, of the celebrations have to do with the end of the harvest.  Here is a taste of what the world has to offer.

Unlike the American Thanksgiving dinner, the Chinese celebrate the August Moon or Mid-autumn Festival.   It is often called the Women’s festival as the moon symbolizes beauty and elegance. It is held the 15^th day of the lunar month.  They celebrate the end of the harvest with a huge feast where they eat mooncakes instead of pumpkin pie.  They send mooncakes to one another as a way to give thanks.  A mooncake is made of sweet bean-paste filling with a golden flaky skin.  Some mooncakes will have a golden yellow egg yolk center which looks like the moon.  (Round is a Mooncake by Roseanne Thong)

In Africa, at the end of the rainy season, usually around the beginning of August the Yam Festival is held.  Yams are one of the most common foods and one of the first crops to be harvested.  People believe that by offering yams to their gods and ancestors first they are giving thanks to the spirits above them.  Don’t confuse yams with sweet potatoes, yams are from Africa and sweet potatoes are from Asia.

Canada began celebrating their Thanksgiving Day in 1957.  It is on the 2^nd Monday of October.  It celebrates the end of the harvest and is the time to give thanks for good crops and prosperity.   The root of the holiday dates back to a ceremony held by Martin Frobisher in 1578 to celebrate his survival in his quest to  find a northern passage from Europe to Asia.

 In January of each year, Pongal is celebrated in Southern India.  It is named after a sweet rice dish.  During Pongal neighbors come together to share their crops and to give thanks to all who helped in making their harvest successful.

In Croatia, “Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day” is celebrated on August 5.  It is not a harvest festival.  It commemorates the seizure of the city of Knin by the Croatian Army during Operation Storm in the War of Independence.

Thanksgiving, wherever you live, is a time to celebrate with family and friends and give thanks to those who have given you peace and joy in your lives.