Friendsgiving originally started as an unknown term in 2007, when a post on Twitter was made. A  few years after that, it finally became mainstream in 2011 when a company called Bailey’s Irish Cream used it for their campaign. Most people who celebrated Friendsgiving in the 2010s did so because it coincided with the Great Recession, and many young adults working in cities couldn’t afford to return home for the holidays.  They decided, since they couldn’t go home and celebrate, they would have a Friendsgiving. 

The way most people celebrate Friendsgiving is similar to a traditional Thanksgiving. Friendsgiving is traditionally a potluck-style event. Usually, everyone brings a dish, so that way not only one person is cooking, as in the traditional Thanksgiving. Friendsgiving is special because typically, people are friends from different countries, and so they bring dishes from various parts of the world. “I’m thankful for Friendsgiving because it’s all the eating and drinking of Thanksgiving without the judgment.” Anonymous source. 

Friendsgiving has become so mainstream that even popular TV shows use it for their “Thanksgiving episodes. Some TV shows that used Friendsgiving in their episodes are Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and New Girl. Most of these shows aired from the late 1990s to the early 2010s.  Some shows like How I Met Your Mother make Friendsgiving a core theme because they celebrate most holidays together. Friendsgiving has become so popular, so why not hop on the trend? Call or text your friends now and start making plans.