What date is Thanksgiving this year? Why is the holiday so much later than it was in 2023?
If you feel like Thanksgiving is later than usual this year, you’re not exactly wrong. The holiday has been celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November for decades, so the exact date on the calendar changes. After variations on the holiday over the years, partially in an attempt to bookend the holiday shopping season with Christmas on Dec. 25, congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 to designate the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.
That means in years when November has five Thursdays, the holiday comes on an earlier date on the calendar. In Novembers with only four Thursdays in the month, it comes later. For example, the date and day of Thanksgiving 2023 was on Thursday, Nov. 23 because it was the fourth Thursday of the month. In 2022, it was celebrated on Thursday, Nov. 24.
The earliest date that Thanksgiving can be celebrated is Nov. 22 and the latest date it can be celebrated is Nov. 28, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. The dates for Thanksgiving can change depending on leap years. 2024 is a leap year which means that this year, February had an extra day.
This year, Thanksgiving 2024 will be celebrated on the latest date possible, Thursday, Nov. 28. The next time it falls on that date will be in 2030.
Here are Thanksgiving dates in coming years:
- Thanksgiving 2025: Thursday, Nov. 27
Thanksgiving 2026: Thursday, Nov. 26
Thanksgiving 2027: Thursday, Nov. 25
Thanksgiving 2028: Thursday, Nov. 23 (leap year)
Thanksgiving 2029: Thursday, Nov. 22
Thanksgiving 2030: Thursday, Nov. 28
