How Do You Say “Happy Thanksgiving!” in Italian?

Before anyone jumps on me for writing about what is essentially a North American tradition, let me take a moment to say that I know Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in Italy, nor does it show any sign of taking root in Italian culture.

That said, I felt it was important to cover this greeting because a large chunk of our readers are, in fact, American with Italian ancestry, and most Italian-Americans do celebrate Thanksgiving.

With that out of the way, let’s begin! 😊

how to say happy thanksgiving in italian

The Italian equivalent of the greeting Happy Thanksgiving! is:

Buona Festa del Ringraziamento!

Happy Thanksgiving!


Buona Festa is a catch-all greeting that literally translates as “good holiday” or “good celebration”. It usually appears in greetings related to santi (saints), but can be expanded to other celebrations. Here are a few examples:

  • Buona Festa di Tutti i Santi / Ognissanti! = Happy All Saints’ Day!
  • Buona Festa di San Valentino! = Happy Saint Valentine’s Day!
  • Buona Festa di San Patrizio! = Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
  • Buona Festa di Santo Stefano! = Happy Saint Steven’s Day!
  • Buona Festa del Papà! = Happy Father’s Day!
  • Buona Festa della Mamma! = Happy Mother’s Day!
  • Buona Festa della Repubblica! = Happy Republic Day! (Italy’s national day)
Family sitting at the table and celebrating holiday. Grandparents, mother, father and children.

You can also use the verb augurare to greet someone during a festive time of the year. In this case, the phrase would be:

Ti auguro una buona Festa del Ringraziamento!
Vi auguro una buona Festa del Ringraziamento!

Le auguro una buona Festa del Ringraziamento!

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!


The version with ti refers to a single person, vi is for a group of people, and Le is the formal version for one person.


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