Thanksgiving falls on Thursday 26 November this year, and it is an ordinary working day in the Netherlands.
That has not stopped Amsterdam’s Americans, and plenty of curious Dutch friends, from marking it.
Here is where to eat, where to shop and what is happening around the day.
Thanksgiving dinner in Amsterdam
Café Belcampo, De Hallen
Belcampo holds its ninth Thanksgiving dinner on 26 November, from 19:00 to 21:30, at Hannie Dankbaarpassage 10 in De Hallen.
The plate has turkey breast and thigh, stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn, sweet potato, mashed potato, gravy, salad and dessert, with a vegan version on request.
Tickets are €38.50, or €13.50 for children under 12, and drinks are extra.
Restaurant Black and Blue, Reguliersdwarsstraat
If 26 November does not suit you, Black and Blue serves a Thanksgiving menu every evening from 16 to 29 November at Reguliersdwarsstraat 32.
Three courses cost €59.95 a head: roasted pumpkin soup, turkey with fries, served for four to share, and warm apple crumble.
The menu runs at the Reguliersdwarsstraat branch only.
Cooking it yourself
For a whole turkey, ask your local butcher (slager) to order one at least a week ahead, and check it will fit your oven.
Kelly’s Expat Shopping, the British and American shop, stocks frozen turkeys and turkey crowns, stuffing mix, gravy and cranberry sauce.
Go early in the month, before the rush.
Friendsgiving
VSA Amsterdam, the vegan student association, holds a Friendsgiving potluck and movie night on Saturday 21 November.
Bring a favourite autumn dish to share.
The address is sent once the hosts approve your sign-up on the Luma page.
The Leiden connection, and this year’s change
Thanksgiving has deep Dutch roots.
Many of the Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 had spent more than a decade living in Leiden first.
For more than fifty years, Americans in the Netherlands have marked the day with a morning service in Leiden’s Pieterskerk, the Pilgrims’ old church.
This year the service moves to Wassenaar, a decision that has left many in Leiden unhappy.
The Pilgrim story is still told in Leiden at the small Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, which reopened in a new home beside the Pieterskerk.
Leiden is about 35 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal by train.
More to do that week
For everything else happening in the city, see What’s On in Amsterdam on Thursday 26 November.
