Family Day in Palau Date in the current year: November 29, 2024

Thanksgiving Day is originally an American holiday that dates back to celebrations held by the Pilgrims at Plymouth in the 1620s. In addition to the United States, it is also celebrated in the US unincorporated territories and associated states, including Guam, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Micronesia and Palau.

Thanksgiving Day always falls on a Thursday (the fourth Thursday in November), so a lot of people take an unpaid day off on the following Friday to visit relatives and spend more time with their families. Because of this, the government of Palau decided to turn it into an official nationwide non-working day. Since most people celebrate Thanksgiving with their families (and also because the year 2017 was declared the Year of the Family in Palau) the new holiday was named Family Day.

Family Day in Palau immediately follows Thanksgiving to give people a long four-day weekend, lasting from Thursday till Sunday. It is usually celebrated on the fourth Friday of November, but when November 1 falls on a Friday, Family Day is observed on the fifth Friday of the month.

The main task of Family Day in Palau is to emphasize the importance and value of families for society and give every person in the country an opportunity to enjoy quality family time. Family Day is rarely celebrated with large-scale events. Usually, each family decides themselves how to spend their extra day off, be it a quiet family dinner, a picnic, a movie night, or a visit to relatives.