What Unites Us: Harvest Traditions Around the World

Welcome to What Unites Us, a series that looks at celebrations, rituals, and customs around the world through the lens of shared experience. The ways we commemorate annual events—from harvests to birthdays and everything in between—may look different across cultures, but they’re a reminder of our shared humanity.
 

An agricultural harvest marks the end of a growing season for a particular crop, and many cultures around the world celebrate this time with a harvest festival. While the crop may vary from country to country, a harvest festival has many common features—giving thanks, celebrating, community, religion, cuisine, music, and dancing.

A harvest festival is, of course, steeped in tradition—some harvest festivals have been around for several centuries! And though some parts of the festivals may have slowly changed over time, at the core is a community coming together to show gratitude for the crop and celebrate their cultural identity.

Let’s take a look at some of the many harvest festivals around the world.

Thanksgiving – US, Liberia, and Canada

In the US, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. The first Thanksgiving occurred in 1621 between the Pilgrims and the native Wampanoag tribe to celebrate the bountiful harvest in Plymouth Colony. Today, Thanksgiving is known as a time for being together with family and friends and eating traditional foods such as turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Community events include “Turkey Trots” (10k, 5k, or other distance runs) and parades. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was first held in 1924 and is enjoyed nationwide for its giant helium balloons. The NFL debuted football games decades ago, with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys traditionally playing on Thanksgiving Day. 

Liberia celebrates several US holidays, including National Thanksgiving Day. Liberians enjoy many of the same dishes as the US, such as roasted chicken, green bean casserole, and mashed cassava, and often incorporate spices like cayenne and other hot peppers.

Canada also celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. However, Canadian Thanksgiving differs from the US in that it celebrates explorers returning safely. In 1578, the explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew gave thanks for surviving a long journey exploring a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean with a meal of salted beef and mushy peas in what is now known as the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The first Canadian Thanksgiving was reinstated in 1872 to celebrate the Prince of Wales’s recovery from an illness. Like the US, Canadians enjoy parades—the most well-known is the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade with over 120 floats—and football (the Canadian Football League).

Pongal – India

Pongal, or the Thai Pongal Festival, is a four-day celebration of the Sun, Mother Nature, and the farm animals contributing to agriculture. Located in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in places where there are significant Tamil populations (e.g., Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries), this important and widely celebrated event begins on January 14 or 15, depending on the Tamil Solar Calendar. Pongal, which means “overflowing” or “boiling over,” is also the name of the dish made at the festival and is comprised of boiled rice, milk, and jaggery (a cane sugar). The four-day celebration includes:

• Discarding and burning old possessions and celebrating new ones
• Cleaning and decorating homes
• Embellishing earthen pots and cooking pongal
• Adorning cows with garlands and beads as a way of showing gratitude for the work they do in agriculture
• Carrying the Pongal pot in a procession with music and dancing

Sukkot – Israel

Sukkot is also known as the Festival of Booths or the Festival of Ingathering (Harvest Festival) and begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei in September or October. This eight-day holiday, observed for thousands of years, is reminiscent of a time when Israelites lived in the desert for 40 years during their exodus from slavery in Egypt. During this time, the Israelites lived in fragile dwellings called booths or huts, so the holiday recognizes the booths as well as the signal for the end of harvest time. Jewish families make these huts and eat (and sometimes sleep) in them during the celebration. 

Chung Chiu – China

Chung Chiu, also known as the Moon Festival, is one of the largest Chinese festivals and is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar cycle of the year. Originating over 2,000 years ago, this three-day festival is devoted to honoring the moon and celebrating the autumn harvest. People mark the occasion by lighting lanterns in the evening. At the heart of the festival’s food is the mooncake, a round pastry that typically contains duck eggs, sesame seeds, and ground lotus seeds. The yolk represents the full moon, and the top has an ornate message or design. Tradition has it that people placed secret messages in mooncakes to coordinate attacks. Nowadays, people exchange mooncakes as a sign of unity and peace. 

New Yam Festival – Nigeria

In Nigeria and throughout Western Africa, the yam is one of the most important crops and is grown in almost every state, town, and city. The Igbo celebrate the New Yam Festival, also known as Iri Ji, at the end of the planting season, typically between August and November. This festive occasion, which like Chung Chiu, coincides with a full moon, is celebrated with dancing, parades, and parties to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. 

Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia – Argentina

Argentina’s Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia highlights its grape harvest, celebrating the country’s renowned wine industry. Following the blessing of the fruit, the festivities feature women parading in chariots through the streets, succeeded by men. The celebration culminates in a spectacle of over 1,000 traditional folklore and music performers and concludes with a dazzling fireworks display.

Gawai Dayak – Malaysia

Gawai Dayak is a time to thank the gods for the rice harvest and rest before the next harvest season. Held in Sarawak, Malaysia, on Borneo Island, this multicultural event showcases music, poetry, and dancing competitions (ngajat is the traditional dance). The many different indigenous groups exchange wishes for joy, prosperity, and good health.  

Final Thoughts

The theme of tradition reverberates across these many global harvest celebrations. While festival decor, cuisine, and entertainment vary across continents and cultures, harvest traditions bring communities together to give thanks, celebrate, and have fun.