If you felt like you were waiting forever for your turkey and mashed potatoes this past year, you aren't crazy. Time wasn't playing tricks on you. In 2024, the holiday calendar threw us a bit of a curveball. What day is Thanksgiving for 2024? It fell on Thursday, November 28. That is about as late as the holiday can possibly get.
Most years, we're used to seeing the festivities land a bit earlier, giving us a nice, long cushion before the December chaos hits. But because 2024 started on a Monday and was a leap year, the "fourth Thursday" rule pushed the date almost to the very end of the month. It was basically the 11th hour for autumn. Honestly, by the time the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade rolled down 34th Street, most of us were already staring at December 1st on the horizon.
The 2024 Date and Why It Matters for Your Sanity
Whenever Thanksgiving lands on the 28th, it creates a domino effect.
You’ve probably noticed that the "holiday season" felt incredibly rushed. That’s because the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas was one of the shortest possible—only 26 days. Usually, we get a few more days to breathe, shop, and actually enjoy the lights before the big day in December.
In 2024, the "Christmas creep" was real. Retailers were panicking. Since they lost an entire week of prime shopping time between the turkey leftovers and the gift-giving, the sales started earlier than ever. You probably saw Black Friday deals hitting your inbox in late October.
Quick 2024 Timeline
- The Big Day: Thursday, November 28, 2024
- Black Friday: November 29, 2024
- Cyber Monday: December 2, 2024
- The Shopping Window: A measly 26 days until Christmas.
It’s kind of wild how much a single Thursday can shift the mood of the entire country. When it’s late, everyone feels behind.
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Why Do We Use the Fourth Thursday Anyway?
You can thank Franklin D. Roosevelt for the current scheduling headache. Or, more accurately, you can thank the retail lobbyists of the 1930s.
Before 1939, it was actually tradition for the President to declare the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving. This started with Abraham Lincoln back in 1863. But in 1939, November had five Thursdays. If they had stuck to the tradition, Thanksgiving would have been on November 30th.
Shop owners were terrified. They told FDR that if Thanksgiving was that late, nobody would have time to spend money on Christmas presents.
FDR listened. He moved the holiday up a week to the fourth Thursday.
The "Franksgiving" Controversy
People absolutely lost their minds. It was a huge political scandal.
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Critics called it "Franksgiving." Governors in several states—mostly Republicans who didn't like FDR's New Deal policies—refused to recognize the change. For a couple of years, the U.S. actually had two different Thanksgivings depending on which state you lived in. If you lived in Connecticut, you might eat turkey on one day, but your cousins in New York might eat it a week later.
Eventually, Congress had to step in and play parent. In 1941, they passed a law officially setting the date as the fourth Thursday of November. That’s why what day is Thanksgiving for 2024 was the 28th—it was the fourth Thursday, even though it wasn't the last day of the month.
Travel Stats That Will Make You Cringe
If you tried to fly or drive in 2024, you likely noticed the record-breaking crowds. According to AAA, nearly 80 million Americans traveled at least 50 miles from home for the 2024 holiday. That is a massive number. It’s actually an all-time record.
The TSA was projecting around 18.3 million people through airport security just in that one-week window.
The worst part about the late date? The weather. When Thanksgiving hits on the 28th, you’re much more likely to run into early winter storms than if it falls on the 22nd. We saw major delays across the Midwest and Northeast this year because of that late-November shift.
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- Busiest Day to Fly: The Sunday after (December 1).
- Worst Time to Drive: Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons before the holiday.
- Pro Tip: If you waited until Thanksgiving morning to drive, you probably had the road to yourself.
What to Do Now That It’s Over
So, the 2024 holiday is in the rearview mirror. What now?
First off, take a breath. The "sprint" to the end of the year is usually the hardest part of the calendar. If you’re feeling burnt out, it’s likely because that late 2024 date compressed your social life into a tiny window.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check 2025 Early: Just for your own peace of mind, know that Thanksgiving 2025 will be on November 27. It’s still relatively late, so don’t expect a massive reprieve next year.
- Audit Your Budget: Since the 2024 shopping season was so short, a lot of people overspent in a panic. Take 15 minutes to look at your bank statement and see where the "emergency" holiday spending went.
- Book 2025 Travel Now: Seriously. With travel numbers hitting 80 million, the only way to get a decent price for next year is to look at flights about 6 to 8 months in advance.
- Save Your Recipes: If that 2024 turkey actually turned out well, write down what you did. You won’t remember it 11 months from now.
The 2024 holiday was a bit of a marathon, mostly because it started so late. But now that we’ve navigated the "fourth Thursday" chaos, we can finally settle into the rest of the winter season. Just keep that November 28th date in mind for the future—whenever it lands that late, you need to start your planning a week earlier than you think.