Agriculture is one of the oldest branches of human activity. Without his achievements, we all would still be struggling with gathering and hunting, and who knows what consequences this could have led to modern civilization. And harvested annually is a guarantee that in winter people will not suffer from hunger, and developed agriculture helps the economy by realizing the surplus of this crop to other countries.
Therefore, the very concept of harvest is revered and deified in many cultures since ancient times. In order to express gratitude to nature, the universe or deity, many peoples have special celebrations, such as a harvest festival.
The most famous of these events is Celtic Samayn, which is celebrated on November 1. By and large, it is not really a harvest festival - it is the day of the beginning of the new year, the veneration of the dead. But it so happened that just on November 1, the Celts finished collecting from the fields grown and began to share it between the inhabitants of the community. On this day, they divided the cattle into one that was able to survive the winter cold, and one that should have been slaughtered. And, in fact, they made meat stocks that day too.
Triumph
In European Christian culture, the harvest festival also exists. It is celebrated on September 29, the day of St. Michael. By this time, all field work usually ends, and the bread has already been removed to the bins. This holiday is considered evidence that people are ready for winter and a new cycle, and the next year, stocks are ready. But the Eastern Slavs have a separate harvest festival - Oseniny, which are celebrated on September 21.
Ukraine
In Ukraine, such an event as the end of work in the field and the end of the agricultural season as a whole coincided with a religious holiday - the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Ukrainian, this holiday is called "Friend of the Great One," and it is also celebrated on September 21. The Mother of God in Ukrainian culture is considered the patroness of the family, harvest, agriculture and motherhood.
USA
In the USA, as a separate holiday, Harvest Day is absent. Thanksgiving is replacing it - one of the most revered by this nation. It is directly related to the crop. Starving first settlers who arrived on the continent in 1620, the Indians of the local Sioux tribe brought food and seeds in winter as a guarantee of friendship. And in the spring, they helped the surviving Europeans plant them and get the first, unexpectedly rich, crop. Many Indians were invited to a gala dinner dedicated to this event. And since then, the friendship between them and the settlers began to grow stronger. And on this day a holiday arose, Thanksgiving, which glorifies wealth, fruits of the American land, abundance and welfare. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, starting in 1621.
Russia
Theoretically, the Harvest Day holiday in Russia also exists, but it is celebrated as the Nativity of the Virgin. This celebration is dedicated to family well-being and harvesting. For all that the local people grew up, they thanked and honored the Virgin. It was believed that it was she who patronized agriculture and the family, especially mothers. According to the old style, this holiday fell on the eighth of September, and in the new - on the twenty-first. On the night of this day, "hammers" began, and also set fire to a "new" fire, which was produced by friction. Such a rite is characteristic of Russian provinces in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Our people greet this holiday merrily - with songs and dances. A large meal is also organized. There are many dishes on the table. There is kutia from the cereals of the new crop, and bread, and cottage cheese.
Conclusion
There is a harvest festival in many more countries. It can be called differently, carry different traditions. But the time of its celebration remains the same - usually it is the end of summer or early autumn, when work in the field ends, and you can already summarize the season and calculate the harvest.