Thanksgiving Day in America’s Hometown (Plymouth)

9am-5pm Visit Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plimoth Patuxet Museums, Plymouth Rock, National Monument to the Forefathers and more!

10am – “Pilgrim Progress”, reenactment of the Pilgrims’ Sabbath procession to worship.  Costumed participants representing survivors of the winter of 1621, assemble to the beat of a drum, proceed down North Street, along Water Street past Plymouth Rock, up Leyden Street to Burial Hill where a short Pilgrim worship service is observed on the site of the original fort/meetinghouse.  Psalms sung are from The Book of Psalms by Henry Ainsworth, used by the Pilgrims in Holland and in Plymouth.  Passages read by “Elder Brewster” are from Governor Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation or other sources.  After the service, the march continues through town on Main Street, ending at the Mayflower Society House via North Street.

12:00 Noon – National Day of Mourning March and Ceremonies
Massasoit Statue, Cole’s Hill www.uaine.org
Since 1970, Indigenous people & their allies have gathered at noon on Cole’s Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the US Thanksgiving holiday. Many Native people do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims & other European settlers. Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands and the erasure of Native cultures. Participants in National Day of Mourning honor Indigenous ancestors and Native resilience. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection, as well as a protest against the racism and oppression that Indigenous people continue to experience worldwide.