How Canadians Celebrate Thanksgiving

Since many centuries, peoples around the world are accustomed to pay homage to the Earth for good harvests through fabulous banquet. And in Canada family gathering for a day of pleasure and fellowship is easier than anywhere else in the world. While the official Thanksgiving Day is the second Monday of October, Canadians actually celebrate it during the full three-day weekend.

At the end of the main meal, it is traditional to kick back and relax while watching the well known "Thanksgiving Day Classic" football competition. The Canadian Football League provides a doubleheader calendar of matches for the festivities of Thanksgiving, in order to not be confused with with the US version of football. Since it is only twice a year the teams play on a Monday, the participating teams use a rotating agenda to determine which team will play in each Thanksgiving Day tournament.

Besides such indoor activities as the family gathering and watch the football competition, the Thanksgiving weekend is usually used as the last major outdoor extravaganza.

Whether actively participating or watching the many Thanksgiving Day parades are an integral part of this holiday in Canada.

During the Thanksgiving weekend Canadians have their last outdoor escapade before the coming of the hard winter. It is also a good time to make a last trip, organize a fishing contest or just admire the splendid red, gold and brown fall colors.

While it is in reality a secular event, Thanksgiving Day is religiously celebrated in many churches too. Harkening back to the old European harvest festivities, most churches tend to decorate with the well-known cornucopias, wheat sheaves, pumpkins, gourds and corn ears. There are special scriptural texts and hymns especially consacreated to this celebration of harvest and to show gratefulness to God for his goodness.

Whether religious or secular, Thanksgiving is the best pretext for people to celebrate and appreciate all the things they have and remember that long ago peoples were less fortunate than nowadays.