The United Kingdom celebrates its own type of Thanksgiving in the form of the “Harvest Festival,” one of the oldest festivals in the UK. In ancient times crops determined the success or failure of the people, and the natives made efforts to please the god of fertility by offering him the first sheaf of corn in order to ensure a good harvest in the coming season. An animal sacrifice, usually a hare, accompanied the cutting of the last sheaf of corn, and it was believed that this sheaf contained its spirit. “Corn dolls” were made to symbolize the goddess of grain, and the entire community came together for a celebratory dinner as part of the festivity.

The modern tradition of celebrating Harvest Festival began in 1843 when Anglican Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving service at his church in Cornwall. Victorian hymns were included, such as “We Plough the Fields and Scatter,” “Come Ye Thankful People, Come,” and “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” and they helped popularize Harker’s idea of harvest festival. Ultimately, an annual custom developed of decorating churches with home-grown produce for the Harvest Festival service.

The celebrations continue to this day in the rural communities of the UK, where children sing hymns and share gifts of locally-grown fruits and vegetables. However, as the people have come to rely less on home-grown produce there has been a shift in many Harvest Festival celebrations. Some churches have now come to link Harvest with an awareness of and concern for people in the developing world for whom growing quality crops remains a struggle.

Nevertheless, Harvest Festival is still held every year in the United Kingdom during the month of September on a Sunday near the harvest moon. It has never been declared a national holiday.