Why is Thanksgiving so late this year?

By Daniel Miller
Published  November 11, 2024 3:49pm MST
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FILE-A photo of Thanksgiving dinner on a table. (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

The Brief

    • Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 28 this year, which is much later than past years.
    • The holiday is later in the month, in part, because 2024 is a leap year.

null - Thanksgiving is a day when families across the country spend time together while enjoying a large meal, usually a turkey, complemented by lots of side dishes.  

But as people begin making their plans and start their meal preparations and grocery shopping, one thing they may notice is that the holiday falls later in November this year. 

When is Thanksgiving this year?

Thanksgiving takes place on Nov. 28, 2024. In 2023, the day was celebrated on Nov. 23, and it was on Nov. 24 in 2022. 

Why is Thanksgiving late this year?

This year, Thanksgiving is on the latest possible date. Typically, the holiday happens on the fourth Thursday of November, but the dates can change based on what day of the week November 1 falls on, which in turn can be bumped later by leap years. And a leap year did occur in 2024. 

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A Nov. 28 Thanksgiving takes place about every five to six years, which means that the next time the holiday falls on Nov. 28 will be in 2030.

Why is Thanksgiving celebrated on Thursday?

President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a "Day of Publick Thanksgivin" - the first time Thanksgiving was celebrated under the new Constitution, according to the National Archives.  

Other presidents issued Thanksgiving Proclamations, but the dates and months of the celebrations differed. But President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation stated that Thanksgiving was regularly celebrated each year on the last Thursday of November. 

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The National Archives noted that Congress later decided to set a fixed date for the holiday. On October 6, 1941, the House passed a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday in November to be the legal Thanksgiving Day. However, the Senate amended the resolution establishing the holiday as the fourth Thursday, which factored in some years when November has five Thursdays.

Moreover, the House agreed to the amendment, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the resolution on December 26, 1941, establishing the fourth Thursday in November as the Federal Thanksgiving Day holiday.

The Source

  • Information for this story was provided by the Cincinnati Enquirer, USA Today, and the National Archives, which provides background on the origin of Thanksgiving.  This story was reported from Washington, D.C.