Watch Europe. They don’t have a Thanksgiving.
It is foolish to blame it on American customs that draw family together.
1. Germany | Erntedankfest
"Erntedankfest" literally translates to "harvest thank festival." Yeah, the German language tends to cut right to the chase. But the tradition of holding a harvest festival in Germany and other European countries dates back to before Christianity.
The image of a Thanksgiving cornucopia (also known as a "horn of plenty") actually comes from a European pagan tradition where farmers would fill a curved goat horn with fruits, vegetables and grains as a thanks for the bounty provided by the previous season’s labor.
Today, Erntedankfest takes place on the first Sunday of October. Unlike an American Thanksgiving where we stay at home with close friends and family, German communities take their festivities to the streets and to town squares for parades, music, dancing and, of course, food. Because turkey, a bird native to North America, is not as common in Germany, an Erntedankfest meal would have chicken or a goose.
Being from Germany I am familiar with the holiday which in my hometown was celebrated in our Catholic church. If the Lutherans; of which there were more than Catholics I have no idea. I only know 3 farmers (Bauern Hof) called in German, in my home town. One was not far away from the house that I grew up in
2. Grenada
Grenada celebrates Thanksgiving around a month sooner than the U.S.
Thanksgiving in Grenada is younger than most celebrations around the world, and it doesn’t necessarily have to do with the harvest season. A Thanksgiving in Grenada takes place on October 25th and commemorates when the United States military came to the country to help restore order after their communist leader, Maurice Bishop, died in 1983.
Soldiers stationed in Grenada began to tell locals about the upcoming Thanksgiving feast and how it's a time for gratitude. To give thanks to the U.S. soldiers, the people of Grenada surprised them with an American-style Thanksgiving complete with turkey, stuffing, gravy and traditional sides. The endearing gesture is now memorialized as an official holiday in Grenada.
Anyway here are more examples of countries that celebrate Thanksgiving.
My parents btw didn't celebrate the "holiday>