The original Thanksgiving Festival was held in Plymouth, Mass. in October or November of 1621. In attendance were about 50 Pilgrims, English Separatists who ca me over on the Mayflower, and about 100 Wampanoag Indians, or Native Americans.

The festival was to give thanks to God for their first successful harvest. The Wampanoag People were invited because it was only thru their help and hospitality that they were still there, having lost many of their original number during the winter of 1620. The festival lasted three days and is said to have involved lots of beer drinking, a favorite beverage of the Pilgrims. The festival also included deer, sea food, lots of vegetables like corn and squash, various nuts, and of course turkey and other local foul. The Pilgrims are said to have shot off a cannon in celebration which led to the arrival of 100 more local Native Americans, who thought the Wampanoag were under attack. They were invited to stay and celebrate as well. Just so you know.