Thanksgiving Celebrated In Parts Of Iceland

A Thanksgiving dinner for some 800 people was served at the University of Iceland today, with all the trimmings, MBL reports. While Iceland does not universally celebrate Thanksgiving, there is a large contingency of Americans in the country, and they do still “celebrate” Black Friday.

The Thanksgiving feast was held at the University of Iceland, wherein 150 kilos of turkey, 40 kilos of stuffing, 50 litres of gravy and a whole host of trimmings were served. The event was organised by the Student Association for the second year in a row, but last year’s turn-out was 500 people.

While some Icelanders expressed annoyance that an American holiday was being celebrated, Student Association spokesperson Rebekka Sigurðardóttir told reporters that the university’s students come from all over the world.

“We believed there was every reason to take part in as many holidays as possible, and we do so because we think it’s fun,” she said. “We should be completely without prejudice towards the holidays of other peoples.”

The American community in Iceland has typically held their own Thanksgiving celebrations, but local restaurants have seen the holiday as an opportunity to hold their own themed dinner specials. For similar reasons, many Icelandic businesses have also embraced Black Friday, despite Thanksgiving not being a national holiday in Iceland.