Thanksgiving in London?

Hi folks,

My wife should be in the UK by Thanksgiving this year and we want to celebrate with other Americans in London if possible.

Just wondering if there are any organised events or how people are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK as we've never actually been in the UK for Thanksgiving day itself.

Thanks.

Seconded! This will be my first Thanksgiving abroad (and away from all my family!). Has anyone out there roped any Brits into celebrating with you? Where do you go to buy a turkey?

In London there is no problem getting a turkey for Thanksgiving.  If you're not in London ask your butcher if he/she can get one for you. 

We've been to a Thanksgiving dinner with 30-40 guests, a mixture of American expats, Brits and numerous other nationalities.  We've also had our own Thanksgiving on a smaller scale with the same mixture.  I think you'll find that people are happy to share in your celebration. 

Thanks, Anonymiss! Good to know.

Most supermarkets will have frozen turkeys in November.

Last year was first year that we'd not gone to the US for Thanksgiving since the first TG after we were married.
We went to London for a few days and booked at Bodeans (a BBQ restaurant but that had a special Thanksgiving menu). It was great. DW's sister is visiting us this year at that time so we'll probably do the same again.

I have already informed the British in-laws that there will be a Thanksgiving meal and it will be a family event.  As they're quite fond of eating holidays, they've not voiced any opposition.     I also think they know how important it is for me to celebrate which is very sweet of them.

When I did Thanksgiving in England in 2012, I got a pre-made turkey breast in Waitrose (we were also having ham so didn't need a whole turkey).  I got canned pumpkin and Stove Top stuffing from the American Candy Store.  Should be fun planning this year!

Thanks for all the replies here folks.
I'd forgotten about this post until I searched for Thanksgiving in the UK ideas and found my own thread, oops!

Are there any events being organised by members on the forum? My wife will hopefully be here by Thanksgiving but will only be a couple weeks or so into UK life, so I'm not sure how many people we'll have chance to meet!

Would be great to both meet other ex-pats and make friends whilst celebrating Thanksgiving too.

I got canned pumpkin and Stove Top stuffing from the American Candy Store.  Should be fun planning this year!

You can usually find tinned pumpkin at Waitrose or Whole Foods but be prepared to find it in an odd place and get confused looks if you ask for help finding it.

I'm sure you could fairly easily find a Thanksgiving event in London, but I never miss an opportunity to plug the group I'm in.

We are in Salisbury, and will be renting a hall this year for Thanksgiving (the 29th, to be precise). If you're after a lovely bunch of expats to spend the holiday with and don't mind a bit of a train journey, we are always happy for fellow expats to join in. I, myself, moved to the UK a couple weeks before Thanksgiving and spent the day alone, on the couch, in my PJs. I can relate.

Again, I'm sure there are plenty of events going on in London, but my offer will stand. I hope you are able to find a way to celebrate with others.

I've not been, but the Ben Franklin House puts on a Thanksgiving dinner every year, which could be fun: details here

As Tykeman said, Bodeans does a special thanksgiving menu every year.  I heard the Breakfast Club does one too.  There are plenty of American-style places popping up all over London and will likely put on a special menu for the day.  What area of London are you based in, and what part of the US is your wife from?  The BBQ places seem a bit more southern style in their approach to an American Thanksgiving dinner.

I normally try to plan a weekend away at Thanksgiving, and eat loads of food in some European city instead of the traditional turkey dinner.

We're based in Milton Keynes so about 40 minutes by train from London.

My wife is from the Pacific North West.

Have looked at various Thanksgiving menus in different restaurants.

Is there anything more personal going on also? A get together of US ex-pats perhaps?

My local Lidl had frozen turkeys already last week - was tempted to get one ahead of time, but was wondering how old they were :/  The last few years in the US my employer gave out free turkeys at xmas (yeah, they were old-fashioned and frankly most of us would have preferred bonuses) so I haven't had to buy a turkey in ages!

Thanks for the info on tinned pumpkin, although I do notice that pie pumpkins have appeared at Sainsbury's lately.  Not sure I really want to screw with that much work though, given the limited size of our kitchen.

An American blogger whose blog I read (Bring Up Brits- it's fabulous) recommended the restaurant Coast to Coast for those American who are looking for a bit of home.  I believe they went on Thanksgiving Day and the restaurant had a turkey dinner special.  May be worth a shot if there is one in your area. 

Hi, I'm an expat journalist for Bloomberg News and we're looking to interview Americans living in the UK about their Thanksgiving plans. Specifically, we'd like to know if anyone is going to do some Black Friday shopping in London, as most of the UK retailers now have Black Friday promotions. If you'd like to be interviewed, email me at mboyle20@bloomberg.net