Town Tradition: Plymouth's 'Historically Accurate' Thanksgiving Parade

PLYMOUTH, MA — They certainly didn't have giant Bart Simpson balloons, dog shows or canned cranberry sauce in the 17th Century.

For a more retro view of how Thanksgiving evolved over the centuries, tune in to the annual America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration in Plymouth — a three-day celebration of the November holiday that's been happening for nearly 30 years.

"Through concerts honoring military sacrifice and a parade chronicling the Pilgrim legacy, spectators will leave with a sense of history and pride," the nonprofit that operates the parade says.

Each year, the parade features reenactments of different periods of U.S. history, including the Pilgrims and colonial militiamen, and more modern groups like veterans of 20th Century wars.

As the apocryphal birthplace of America, Plymouth is the center of several Thanksgiving traditions apart from the parade event. Each year, Native Americans from tribes from around New England and beyond travel to Plymouth for a day of mourning, a tradition that began in 1970.

Thanksgiving — declared a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln — indeed has a complicated and tragic history tied to the Patuxet band of Wampanoag, who were were wiped out by European diseases. The lone surviving member of that band, Tisquantum, was kidnapped and taken to Spain before returning to Plymouth just in time for the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620. Tisquantum showed the Pilgrims how to plant crops and fish; their survival thanks to his help led to Thanksgiving-like celebrations.

Plymouth's America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration typically attracts scores of spectators over its multi-day celebration — but it's also available to watch each year via WCVB's broadcast of the parade. This year's event begins on Nov. 17.