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Browse through this article to know about the common tradition of the Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving Day Tradition

The Thanksgiving Day that we know now originated in Northern America with a blend of European and Native Indians tradition. However, before North America came into the picture, the other forms of this festival were held in different parts of Europe. These different forms had but one common tradition: to offer thanks for the good harvest and rejoice together with family and rest of the community. These traditions were then carried forward and brought to America, when Europeans travelled to these parts. Even today, the tradition to offer thanks and celebrate the blessings in the form of family & friends, good food, and peace carries along with added attractions. And if there's one day when you can get together with your family, partake in prayers and mouthwatering feast which includes a towering turkey, watch the entertaining parade or be a part of it, and watch nail biting football match or two; it's the Thanksgiving Day. All this combines together to lend Thanksgiving its tradition.

Rituals Of Thanksgiving Day

Family Reunion & Prayers
Thanksgiving holiday is never complete if the entire family is not present to express its thankfulness and gratitude, together. It brings family relatives and friends living in different places together to partake in prayers, dinner, and celebrations. It is therefore, a common and inseparable tradition at Thanksgiving for the whole family and some friends may be, to sit together at the dinner table and offering Thanksgiving prayers to the Lord for the year that has gone by and the one that is about to begin.

Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner (Turkey)
Cooked in different styles, a lustrously prepared turkey is always the centerpiece of attraction at any dinner table during a traditional Thanksgiving feast. Any Thanksgiving dinner is incomplete without it. But a turkey is not all, as in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, dinner tables are also adorned with pink hams, yams or sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, vegetables, and pies like the pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, or mince pie, as desserts.

Thanksgiving Parade
On Thanksgiving Day, it's also a tradition to sit back and enjoy and the colorful and animated Thanksgiving parades that are held in cities like New York City, Houston, Philadelphia, and Detroit. The parades are jeweled with large balloons and floats of well known figures and features live music and other performances. Celebrities from the Broadway shows often participate and perform in these parades. The most popular of these parades, and also the oldest, are Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and America's Thanksgiving Parade. Audience can also catch the live television and radio coverage for these parades.

Football
Another popular tradition that continues to be loved and cheered on every Thanksgiving Day since 1920, when the National Football League was formed, is watching their matches. And since 2006, three games are played on every Thanksgiving Day, with the first two games hosted by Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. There are many memorable games that have been played on Thanksgiving Days over the years that have gone down to the wire. A traditional and fun way for the whole family to be together and cheer for their favorite team's victory!