This article was updated in 2025.
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Nightlife Editor
For some, Thanksgiving is a time of getting together with the family, having a quiet time and feasting on a big meal of turkey and trimmings.
But single people know otherwise, for that is when they gather in groups to go on Thanksgiving-themed pub crawls, fill the bars on Thankgiving Eve and either go back to school or jam alumni bars to watch college football rivalry game.
Yes, Thanksgiving Weekend in the USA is for giving thanks, but it’s also for partying and nightlife. In this article PubClub.com looks at the American tradition of Thanksgiving Weekend nightlife.
Bars & Thankgiving-Themed Pub Crawls
One of the biggest singles nights of the entire year is Thanksgiving Eve. People are out looking to mingle – for some it’s sowing wild oats before a quiet weekend with the parents – and bars are packed.
Adding to the party scene are Thanksgiving-themed pub crawls, which take place in nearly every city in America. They are so prevalent that in some places, there are multiple pub crawls taking place at the same time. For instance, there are three taking place in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter nightlife district alone on Thanksgiving Eve. That’s a lot of Thanksgiving Eve nightlife.
Singles Thanksgiving Dinners
NFL & College Football Rivalry Games
As any American knows, Thanksgiving Day means football.
The ladies like the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, a tradition that goes back to 1924 (it was created to celebrate the opening of a new store and boost holiday sales and originally included animals from the Central Park Zoo). But men just “mosy around” until either Thanksgiving dinner or the first NFL football game of the day. First, it’s the Detroit Lions (against Green Bay, kickoff 1 p.m. ET) and then it’s the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Kansas City Chiefs (4:30 ET). And some memorable moments occur in those games, too – Clint Longley, a.k.a. the “Mad Bomber” filling in for injured Roger Staubach to lead a win over the Redskins and Leon Lett famously fumbling a blocked punt in the snow allowing the Miami Dolphins to pull off an improbable last-second win.
Thanksgiving Weekend also means hotly-contested rivalry games in college football. Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, USC-UCLA (or USC-Notre Dame, depending on the year because the Trojans won’t play in South Bend in November) and an its-about-time-its-back game between Texas & Texas A&M. For decades, it was also Nebraska-Oklahoma but conference expansion has ended tht tradition, and a few others, as well. Those are just the big ones, too, for college football rivalry games exist on campuses big and small across the U.S.
And, of course, watching football games also means drinking beer and it’s big-time business for sports bars.
About PubClub.com
PubClub.com is one of the original websites on the Internet. It features articles on nightlife, food & drink, events, activities, travel and sports. It has been featured in USA Today, the LA Times and American Way magazine, among other major media outlets. Kevin Wilkerson is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in daily newspapers and for the Associated Press. He has been to pubs and clubs and on holiday-themed pub crawls throughout the world.
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