Harvest Festival Celebrate People Music Event United States

"Thanksgiving" is the major harvest festival in the United States. It was first celebrated in 1621 in Massachusetts as a way for the "Pilgrims" (the white Europeans who began living in North America) to celebrate their "harvest" (the food taken from plants) by sharing foods with the Native American "tribes" (groups of people living together). Most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving each November, but there are also many local harvest festivals throughout the United States.

People in Ozark, Arkansas celebrate each October at the Harvest Music Festival, which is a four-day event where many bands "perform" (make music for an audience to listen to). The "origins" (how something began) of the festival are in the agricultural harvest, but now the festival focuses more on music.

The Harvest Festival Original Art & Craft Show is held throughout the West Coast from September through December. Again, the origins of the festival are in the agricultural harvest, but this particular show focuses on "arts and crafts" (things made by people, not machines). The three-day event also includes "live" (not pre-recorded) music and food.

Some harvest festivals celebrate the harvest of a particular "crop" (plants grown for food). For example, the Texas Rice Festival in the town of Winnie celebrates rice farming in Southeastern Texas. It started in 1969 and has grown into a week-long event with a "carnival" (games and rides), parades, cooking contests, a car show, dances, and more.

The North Dakota Grape Harvest Festival, held each August, celebrates the grape harvest with music, food, wine tasting, "vineyard" (the land where grapes are grown) tours, music, and a "grape stomping contest," in which people take off their shoes and socks and step on grapes to make juice for wine.