America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration is held each year at the birthplace of Thanksgiving, Plymouth, Massachusetts on the “Weekend before Thanksgiving”. The weekend of festivities has become a beloved holiday occasion as well as an important link to our nation’s history and heritage. For more than a decade hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life have traveled to the Plymouth Harbor to experience a bounty of authentic Americana. The celebration of Thanksgiving becomes history-brought-to-life as pilgrims, soldiers, patriots, and pioneers proudly climb out of the history books and onto the streets of Plymouth.

This event has also come to represent the corner stone of local economic development for many businesses and merchants. For area shops and restaurants the festivities surrounding the parade offer an opportunity to share lovingly crafted goods and delicious food with thousands of new customers who many not other wise visit the area. The motels/hotels are filled to capacity during the weekend celebration.  The community merchants absolutely feel the economic impact of the yearly event, and it allows them to give back to the community with real and lasting benefits.

America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration is truly a labor of love for the many volunteers who realize the value of the parade to the community and to the nation. This event stems from the heart and seeks to bring to life a sense of community and merriment while encouraging parade viewers, Historic Village waterfront visitors, and concert attendees to take a moment to remember the story of how this vast continent became the home of the brave and the land of the free.

The parent organization of this event  is Plymouth Rock Foundation, a non-profit organization that strives to keep the traditions and values of early Americans from being forgotten. The desire of dedicated historians and thankful Americans to preserve, celebrate and share and give thanks for our nation’s history in a fun and entertaining way is truly the driving force of the celebration.

Mission Statement

Courage, fortitude, faith, virtue and brotherly love – the Pilgrim legacy - a legacy of Character that formed the cornerstone of America. Our mission is to preserve the integrity of this legacy by focusing on key individuals and events in our American Pilgrimage where this character has been exemplified. Our goal is to lead our nation in giving thanks to God for the blessings of this inheritance, by producing a Thanksgiving Celebration of excellence in Plymouth, America’s Hometown, where Thanksgiving began.