Christmas and Thanksgiving are well known holidays that are near the end of the year. While, both holidays are connected to family gatherings and food, there are many differences between the two holidays.
Christmas is a holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is associated with the beautiful journey of Mary and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem which is where Jesus is born, and the holiday of Christmas would be born and created. All over the world, Christmas is celebrated amongst Christians and many festivals and parties are hosted in honour of Christmas and the celebration of Jesus’s birth. Usually, a star is placed on top of the Christmas tree, and it represents the stars on the night of Jesus’s birth and hence the gifts are often placed underneath the tree or rather underneath the star.
Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday that is celebrated in America and Canada. Thanksgiving is popular considered as the day when the pilgrims (people who came to the US on the Mayflower) sat down with the Native Americans to give thanks for the feast. America and Canada have two sperate reasons and celebrations for their own thanksgiving celebrations. However, each country has their own version of thanksgiving as well. Thanksgiving Day is the day of giving thanks for the blessing of the year, it is a holiday of being thankful towards all the love you received within the year. It is often celebrated on fourth Thursday of November in United States and second Monday of October in Canada.
The main differences with the two holidays are:
Month:
Thanksgiving is celebrated in November, and Christmas is celebrated in December.
Date:
Thanksgiving is on the second Monday of October for Canada and on the fourth Thursday in November in America.
Traditions:
Christmas: Gift giving, social gathering, festivals, church service, symbolic and Christmas specific decorations.
Thanksgiving:
Food gathering, a big turkey dinner.
Food:
Thanksgiving’s main meal is turkey, it is practically the symbol of thanksgiving. For Christmas, there is not a specific meal like turkey that is connected to Christmas but eggnog, sweets like cake and pudding, and nutmeg are very Christmas specific foods.
Decorations:
For thanksgiving, anything fall related could be a great decoration for thanksgiving, mainly the colours orange, dark red, and brown are the strongest colours in fall decorations. For Christmas, red and green is the main colours of Christmas, you will see those colours everywhere during the holiday season. Décor that has snow all over it, ornaments, Christmas trees, mistletoes, white angelic colours are all Christmas related decorations
Christmas and thanksgiving are two holidays with some similarities but a lot of differences as well, both holidays are loved internationally and bring joy to many. Each holiday has a special meaning and characteristics with a bright and warm atmosphere in their own way. Holidays create an atmosphere that is unbeatable, therefore, enjoy your holidays and enjoy the delicious food that comes with it 😊.
Luna Abd Elrazaq.
