Plymouth Gets Two Thanksgivings: Parade Weekend Comes First, the Holiday Five Days Later

By 7 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, Water Street will be closed from Union Street to the Town Wharf rotary. Brewster, Howland and Chilton streets and Memorial Drive will be holding floats instead of parked cars. Three hours later, America's Hometown Thanksgiving Parade steps off at Plymouth Rock. That's a full five days before anyone in town sits down to turkey.

Living here means planning around that gap. The parade weekend of Nov. 20 to 22 draws the crowds, the road closures and the food trucks. Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 26 is downtown's other holiday. It starts early, runs on foot and centers on observances much older than any float.

The weekend that carries the floats

This year the parade leans into America's 250th anniversary. The organizers' October press release on PRLog lists 25 floats and more than 20 musical groups, including military bands, drum and bugle corps, and high school and college marching bands. The lineup runs in chronological order. It starts with the Native peoples of the 1600s and moves through the Mayflower's 1620 arrival and the 1621 harvest to the fight for independence. New this year are floats for the Knox Artillery, the Dorchester Heights Monument, the Declaration of Independence, Parting Ways and Washington Crossing the Delaware. There's also a float honoring Dolly Parton, plus antique cars marking the 100th anniversary of Route 66. The Fallen Heroes float returns to honor service members, veterans and Gold Star families.

The last floats in the lineup are Christmas Morning and St. Nicholas. So the parade moves through four centuries and ends on the next holiday, five days before this one arrives. Debra Gallo, the event's media spokesperson, described the full run to PRLog this way:

"When you watch it from start to finish, you've seen 400 years of the American story."

The weekend wraps around the parade on both ends, according to See Plymouth's event listing and the Plymouth Philharmonic concert page:

1. Friday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m. The Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra plays "An American Soundtrack" at Memorial Hall, 83 Court Street.
2. Saturday, 9 a.m. Opening ceremonies at Pilgrim Memorial Park.
3. Saturday, 10 a.m. The parade steps off from Plymouth Rock and follows Water Street to Main Street and Court Street. It ends at Benny's Plaza, 179 Court Street. The organizer's parade guide lists it as free to the public.
4. Saturday, through 4 p.m. The waterfront fills with the Hometown Craft Beer & Wine Garden, Food Truck Alley, a Children's Pavilion, live music and a petting zoo. The Holiday Village at Brewster Gardens, presented by the U.S. Air Force, has vendors, food, children's activities and photos with Santa, and admission is free.
5. Saturday, 5 p.m. A National Senior Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps Reunion at Memorial Hall.
6. Sunday, Nov. 22, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Harvest Festival and the Plymouth Farmers Market set up along the waterfront on Water Street.

Downtown businesses are joining in too. The Downtown Waterfront District calendar lists a Parade Day Mimosa Bar at Uva Wine Bar and a Country Fest at Cabby Shack on Saturday. On Sunday, The Spire Center has "Sunday Serenades: Mamma Mania!"

The format matches last year's. The Plymouth Independent's 2025 guide described the same route, with the parade on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and the festival the next day. The America 250 floats are what's new for 2026.

Saturday morning, street by street

Because the crowds come on Saturday, so do the closures. The organizer's transportation page and See Plymouth list these:

The shuttles are set up for people driving in. Buses run every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and drop off on Lincoln Street. The organizer says the buses are accessible and useful for guests with mobility challenges. The park-and-shuttle lots are at Route 3 Exit 13 on Obery Street and Exit 17 at the MBTA commuter-rail park-and-ride on Marion Drive in Kingston. See Plymouth also lists a free shuttle from Kingston Station.

If you live near downtown, the closure times decide your morning. Water Street shuts at 7 a.m., and Main and Court follow at 8:30 a.m. Any errand that crosses the route has to happen before then or after the last float reaches Benny's Plaza.

Thursday belongs to a different set of traditions

Five days later, the Thanksgiving Day schedule downtown is a string of early starts, walks and gatherings, and most of them happen on foot:

• 7:30 to 9 a.m. The 10th Annual Running of the Pilgrims 5K starts on Water Street at DCR Pilgrim Memorial State Park.
• 10 a.m. The Pilgrim Progress procession leaves North Street for Water Street. It passes Plymouth Rock, climbs Leyden Street to School Street, then returns along Main and North streets to the Mayflower Society House.
• Noon. United American Indians of New England holds its 2026 National Day of Mourning on Cole's Hill above Plymouth Rock. A march through the historic district follows, and rallies are expected to run until about 3 p.m. UAINE's flyer says the event will be livestreamed, masks are required and box lunches will be available. Its orientation says chairs will be available at the opening rally on Cole's Hill, and organizers will try to have a couple of cars for people who can't walk the full march route.
• All day. See Plymouth's Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth page lists Plimoth Patuxet Museums open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Pilgrim Hall Museum open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The procession route overlaps the parade route. Water Street, Plymouth Rock and Main Street carry both. On Saturday the story is told with floats and bands. On Thursday it's told by people walking the streets where it happened, and on Cole's Hill.

The tables, from now through Black Friday

Some of Plymouth's Thanksgiving meals start well before the holiday. Plimoth Patuxet's Fall Harvest Dinners page offers three formats this season. Every dining ticket includes two days of admission to the museum's historic sites.

The New England Harvest Feast is dinner theater with costumed performers, music and storytelling, built on historic New England foodways. The two remaining seatings both run 5:30 to 7 p.m. One is this Saturday, Nov. 14. The other is Saturday, Nov. 21, which makes it the evening ending to parade day. A final seating is on Friday, Nov. 27.

"The Story of Thanksgiving" Dinner is the museum's most popular format. It's a plated meal at communal tables, paired with an educator-led program on the history and changing meaning of the day. The menu runs from corn chowder through roast native turkey, cranberry relish and a choice of warm Indian pudding, pumpkin pie or apple pie. Seatings are Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 5:30 p.m.; Thanksgiving Day at 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.; and Friday, Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $131 for non-members and $104 for members, with tax, service and the two-day admission included. The museum also lists a Thanksgiving Day Homestyle Buffet with turkey, ham and traditional sides, with seatings at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.

On the waterfront, See Plymouth's 2026 Thanksgiving guide lists three restaurants open on the holiday:

• Anna's Harborside Grille, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• CabbyShack, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with pizza until 8 p.m.
• Tavern on the Wharf, 11:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

The guide recommends reservations and says details may change. Calling ahead is the safest plan.

Taken together, the calendar gives you two separate days to plan for. The Saturday before brings closed streets, shuttles from Kingston and Obery Street, and floats from the Knox Artillery to St. Nicholas. Thursday starts with a 7:30 a.m. run and moves on to the Pilgrim Progress procession, the gathering on Cole's Hill and the museum dinners.

If guests are coming in for either weekend and want to know which downtown streets stay quiet on parade morning, I'm happy to walk through it with you. Plymouth's calendar is part of what I watch every season at Shana Lundell. Let's Connect.