Global Exchange Vacation Club wishes your family a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

1. Global Exchange Vacation Club with Thanksgiving Traditions around the World
Over the centuries, many thanksgiving traditions have originated from different countries all
over the world celebrating their gratitude for rich harvests.
In most cultures, there was an ancient belief that crops enclosed spirits that caused them to
grow and die. It was believed that when the crops would be harvested, these spirits would be
released. People began harvest festival celebrations for defeating these crop spirits.
Since it is almost Thanksgiving, we would like to introduce you to some interesting traditions
from around the world. We hope you enjoy this holiday information.
Tracing back to the ancient Greek culture, a harvest festival called Thesmosphoria honored the
goddess of grains, Demeter, each and every autumn. On the third day of the festival they would
offer the goddess Demeter gifts of fruit, cakes, corn, etc. and hoped that their gratitude to
Demeter would reward them with a rich harvest.
Ancient Romans celebrated their thanksgiving traditions and harvest festival, which was called
Cerelia. Cerelia was a harvest festival that honored their Goddess of corn, Ceres. Throughout
this festival there were games, music, sports, parades and fruits and harvest were offered to
the Goddess Ceres.
The ancient Egyptians also had their own thanksgiving traditions. They believed that there was
a spirit that lived in their corn. When they harvested their corn they pretended to be grief-
stricken and wept to try and deceive the spirit. The Egyptians honored their god of vegetation
and fertility, Min, with their own harvest festival. Different from other festivals, the Egyptian’s
festival was held during the springtime which was the harvest season in Egypt. The Pharaoh
would take part in a parade and later hold a great feast where dancing, music, and sports were
part of the celebration.
The ancient Chinese culture celebrated Chung Ch’ui. This was a three-day harvest festival,
which would come with the full moon that fell on the fifteenth day of the eighth month.

2. According to the Chinese, this was the day considered as the moon’s birthday. They believe that
during the festival, flowers would fall from the moon and whoever would see the flowers would
have good fortune. It was at this time that families sat down to have a Thanksgiving meal with
harvested fruits, roasted pig, and traditional moon cakes, which are round and yellow like the
moon.
The Jewish also celebrate thanksgiving traditions during their harvest festival that last for seven
days, called Sukkot. Sukkot is also known as Hag HaAsif, which means The Festival of
Ingathering. The word Sukkot is plural for the word sukkah. A sukkah is a hut that is easy to
assemble, easy to take apart and is made from branches. A sukkah was what the ancient
Israelites lived in during their 40 years of dwelling in the desert. Nowadays, fruits and
decorations are hung in the sukkah. On the first two nights of the Sukkot holiday, families sit
inside the sukkah and eat together.
During England’s harvest festival, it was customary to choose a Harvest Queen. The Harvest
Queen was decorated with grains and fruits. On Thanksgiving Day, the Harvest Queen would
parade through the streets in a carriage that was drawn by white horses.
In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on a different day than in the US. Canada’s observance of
Thanksgiving began in 1879. Thanksgiving in Canada is held on the second Monday in October.
Canadians sometimes call the Thanksgiving in the US as Yanksgiving to distinguish it from the
Canadian Thanksgiving holiday and their own thanksgiving traditions.
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