Masterman’s Annual Friendsgiving

Already established as a federal holiday and intertwined with familial values, Thanksgiving is a cherished time of celebration and gathering. While for most of its history, Thanksgiving has been primarily a family tradition, the rise of the additional Friendsgiving celebration has highlighted the original essence of the holiday.  

According to Merriam-Webster, the earliest use of the term “Friendsgiving” only dates back to a 2007 tweet, yet the concept itself was still popular more than a decade prior. The rise in popularity of the offshoot holiday is attributed to millennials seeking an additional celebration that instead focuses on friendship as the sole main event.

 Usually celebrated in the weeks before Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving strictly employs a potluck-style rule set, often breeding various cultural dishes. The rise of multiculturalism in America, and consequently multicultural friend groups, has brought more diversity to the traditional American Thanksgiving pallet. This was evident at Masterman's rendition of the holiday on November 14. Paying homage to the “bring your own dish” standard, people who brought food, utensils, or drinks got to eat first. A buffet-style line was set up with a wide range of dishes: dumplings, a cheese board, shrimp pasta, rotisserie chicken, stuffing, cornbread, lo mein, brookies, pumpkin pie, banana bread, apple cobbler… and many more.