Thanksgiving 2027: Dates, Holidays, Events and Observances

Thanksgiving 2027 falls on Thursday, November 25, 2027. Black Friday follows on November 26, and Cyber Monday on November 29. There are 30 days from Thanksgiving to Christmas, which is on December 25.

November 2027 contains four Thursdays — the 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th — which means the fourth Thursday and the last Thursday are the same day.

In years with five Thursdays, the two rules diverge, and the distinction is not academic: it was the subject of a genuine national dispute in 1939 that took two years and an act of Congress to settle.

When is Thanksgiving 2027?

Thursday, November 25, 2027. The holiday week in full:

Date	Day	Significance
Wednesday, November 24	Wednesday	Busiest travel day of the year
Thursday, November 25	Thursday	Thanksgiving Day, federal holiday
Friday, November 26	Friday	Black Friday
Saturday, November 27	Saturday	Small Business Saturday
Sunday, November 28	Sunday	Heaviest return travel day
Monday, November 29	Monday	Cyber Monday

The fourth Thursday, not the last Thursday

Thanksgiving is defined in 5 U.S.C. 6103 as the fourth Thursday in November.

The distinction from “last Thursday” only matters in years containing five Thursdays, and 2027 has four, so both rules give November 25.

The rule exists because of a dispute. In 1939, with five Thursdays in November, President Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving a week earlier to lengthen the Christmas shopping season during the Depression.

Sixteen states refused and kept the traditional last Thursday, producing two competing Thanksgivings — mockingly called “Franksgiving” — for three years.

Congress settled it with a joint resolution in 1941 fixing the fourth Thursday, which Roosevelt signed on December 26, 1941.

The possible range is November 22 to November 28. November 25 in 2027 sits mid-range.

Thanksgiving 2027 closures by institution

Institution	Thursday, November 25	Friday, November 26
Federal offices	Closed	Open
Banks and Federal Reserve	Closed	Open
U.S. Postal Service	No delivery	Normal delivery
NYSE and Nasdaq	Closed	Early close, 1:00 p.m. ET
Bond markets, SIFMA	Closed	Early close, 2:00 p.m. ET
UPS and FedEx	No service	Normal service
State government	Closed in all 50 states	Closed in several states
Public schools	Closed	Closed in most districts
Retail	Varies; many now closed	Open, extended hours

Black Friday is not a federal holiday. Federal offices and banks are open on Friday, November 26, 2027, and federal employees work a normal day unless they take leave.

Several states — including California, Delaware, Florida, Texas, and Washington — do observe the day after Thanksgiving as a state holiday, and many private employers grant it, but neither is a federal entitlement.

The stock exchanges close early on Black Friday rather than opening normally. NYSE and Nasdaq trade a half session ending at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Food and Feast Statistics

• 46 million turkeys: Estimated number of whole turkeys eaten across the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day each year, accounting for nearly half of all whole turkeys consumed annually nationwide.
• 88% of Americans: Proportion of households that include turkey as the centerpiece of their Thanksgiving meal.
• 3,000 to 4,500 calories: The estimated total caloric intake of an average person during the Thanksgiving holiday feast, appetizers, drinks, and desserts combined.
• 250 million pounds of potatoes & 800+ million pounds of cranberries: Weight of staple side ingredients harvested and purchased around late fall to feed Thanksgiving dinners.
• 100,000+ helpline calls: The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line answers over 100,000 questions by phone, text, and chat each November and December to assist cooks with prep and roasting emergencies.

Travel and Gathering Numbers

• 55 million travelers: The American Automobile Association (AAA) typically estimates between 50 and 55+ million Americans travel at least 50 miles from home over the holiday weekend.
• 89% by car: Among those traveling for Thanksgiving dinner, roughly 9 out of 10 travel by automobile, with the majority of trips taking less than one hour.
• 91% national observance: According to Pew Research, over 90% of U.S. adults celebrate Thanksgiving, making it one of the most widely observed holidays across demographic and religious groups.
• 26% large gatherings: About a quarter of Americans sit down to dinner with groups larger than 10 people.

Traditions and Entertainment

Event / Tradition	Key Figure	Details
Macy’s Parade Viewership	25–28 million	Average live television viewers tuning in to watch the parade down Manhattan.
Helium Usage	300,000+ cu ft	Macy’s Parade is among the largest single consumers of helium for its giant balloons.
NFL Turkey Day Football	30–40+ million	Viewership per game; NFL games on Thanksgiving date back to 1920.
Preparation vs. Eating Time	9.6 hours vs. 16 minutes	The average time hosts spend cooking vs. the median time taken to finish the actual meal.

Historical Milestones

• 1621: The three-day harvest meal held at Plymouth Colony between approximately 50 English Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Native Americans, widely credited as the historical basis for the holiday.
• 17 years: The length of time writer Sarah Josepha Hale (author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) campaigned with letters to U.S. presidents until Abraham Lincoln finally declared Thanksgiving a recurring national holiday in 1863.
• 1941: Congress passed a joint resolution signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishing Thanksgiving permanently as the fourth Thursday of November, ending confusion after FDR had previously tried shifting it earlier to elongate the shopping season.
• 1989: President George H.W. Bush formalized the official annual tradition of the White House Presidential Turkey Pardon.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924 as a promotional stunt created largely by first-generation European immigrant employees of Macy’s.

Seeking to celebrate their adopted American holiday while evoking the vibrant street pageants and carnivals of Europe, store workers marched from 145th Street in Harlem down to Macy’s flagship store at Herald Square on 34th Street—a six-mile trek.

Originally billed as “Macy’s Christmas Parade,” the inaugural spectacle featured marching bands, professional entertainers, store employees dressed as clowns and knights, floats depicting nursery rhymes like Mother Goose, and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo, including camels, elephants, and bears.

The Evolution of the Giant Balloons

While the first parade drew over 250,000 spectators, the live zoo animals proved troublesome—frightening children with growls and growing exhausted over the multi-mile march. By 1927, Macy’s sought a safer, more whimsical alternative.

The store enlisted Tony Sarg, a German-born master puppeteer and Macy’s holiday window designer, to invent aerial figures.

First Character Balloons Debut – 1927

Sarg collaborated with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company to construct oversized, air-filled rubber figures. The inaugural balloon was Felix the Cat, alongside an elephant and a dinosaur.

Because they were filled with regular air rather than helium, these early figures were held aloft with long wooden poles supported by costumed handlers.

Helium and the Great Balloon Race – 1928

Macy’s began inflating the figures with helium. With no deflation infrastructure in place, organizers simply released the balloons into the sky at the end of the route. To turn this into a promotion, Macy’s inserted address tags and slow-release safety valves, offering a $100 reward (a massive sum during the era) to anyone who retrieved and returned a grounded balloon.

Air Safety Bans the Releases – 1932

The balloon releases ended after multiple hazardous incidents, including a trailing balloon wrapping around the wing of a small airplane over Queens, sending it into a tailspin. From 1933 onward, balloons were deflated and packed away at the finish line.

Mickey Mouse & Pop Culture Integration – 1934

Walt Disney collaborated with Sarg to create the first Mickey Mouse balloon. This marked a permanent transition from generic nursery-rhyme figures to licensed pop-culture icons.

World War II Hiatus & Scrap Drive – 1942–1944

Parades were canceled due to rubber and helium rationing during WWII. Macy’s deflated its balloon fleet and donated roughly 650 pounds of scrap rubber to the U.S. military effort. The parade resumed in 1945.

National Television Broadcast – 1947–1952

The classic film Miracle on 34th Street (1947) introduced the parade to a nationwide audience using real footage from the 1946 event. In 1952, NBC began its official national television broadcast, cementing the morning parade as an American domestic ritual.

Modern Engineering: The Macy’s Parade Studio

Today, balloon design and fabrication are handled year-round at the Macy’s Parade Studio in Moonachie, New Jersey.

The process relies on precise aerodynamic modeling and strict safety protocols:

• Materials: Early heavy rubber has been replaced by lightweight, polyurethane-coated nylon fabrics capable of holding high-pressure helium while resisting tears and temperature fluctuations.
• Internal Chambering: Giant balloons are not hollow single shapes; they are engineered with dozens of independent internal air cells. If a limb or accessory punctures, the rest of the character remains upright.
• Flight Teams: Flying a modern balloon requires 50 to 90 volunteer handlers, a team of tether captains, a pilot who walks backward navigating street geometry, and heavy utility vehicles providing anchor ballast against wind shear.
• Strict Wind Rules: Following wind-related incidents in the 1990s (most notably the 1997 Cat in the Hat balloon incident), New York City local laws mandate that balloons must be grounded or flown at reduced altitudes if sustained winds exceed 23 mph or gusts exceed 34 mph.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2027

Event	Date 2027	Day
Black Friday	November 26	Friday
Small Business Saturday	November 27	Saturday
Cyber Monday	November 29	Monday
Giving Tuesday	November 30	Tuesday

Because Thanksgiving 2027 falls on November 25, mid-range rather than late, the retail season between Thanksgiving and Christmas runs 30 days.

That span varies from 26 to 32 days depending on where the fourth Thursday lands, and it is watched closely by retailers because it determines the number of shopping weekends.

The 2027 season contains five weekends, including Christmas Day itself.

Thanksgiving dates 2025 to 2032

Year	Thanksgiving	Thursdays in November	Days to Christmas
2025	November 27	4	28
2026	November 26	4	29
2027	November 25	4	30
2028	November 23	5	32
2029	November 22	5	33
2030	November 28	4	27
2031	November 27	4	28
2032	November 25	4	30

2028 and 2029 are the years where “fourth Thursday” and “last Thursday” would give different answers, because November contains five Thursdays. The statutory fourth-Thursday rule governs.

Thanksgiving is not a Canadian holiday

	United States	Canada
Date 2027	Thursday, November 25	Monday, October 11
Rule	Fourth Thursday in November	Second Monday in October
Statutory since	1941	1957
Long weekend	Thursday to Sunday, by convention	Saturday to Monday

Canadian Thanksgiving falls on Monday, October 11, 2027 — the same day as United States Columbus Day. The earlier date reflects an earlier harvest at higher latitudes.

What Thanksgiving 2027 is not

Thanksgiving is not the last Thursday in November as a matter of law. It is the fourth Thursday, fixed by joint resolution in 1941. The two coincide in 2027 but diverge in 2028 and 2029.

Black Friday is not a federal holiday. Federal offices and banks operate normally on Friday, November 26, 2027.

It is not a four-day federal weekend. The federal closure is Thursday only. The Friday off that many people take is employer policy or state law, not federal.

It is not observed on the same date in Canada, which marks its Thanksgiving six weeks earlier, on Monday, October 11, 2027.

Frequently asked questions