Friendsgiving Skews Young, Restaurant-Ready

Friendsgiving, the casual, friend-centric counterpart to Thanksgiving, is showing up as an under-served occasion that skews toward Gen Z and Millennials, according to Datassential’s Fall Trends report.

The two fall celebrations run on opposite generational lines. A quarter of Gen Z and nearly as many Millennials observe Friendsgiving, but participation drops off sharply with age, falling to just 9% of Boomers. Thanksgiving flips that pattern: 92% of Boomers celebrate, more than any other generation, compared with 57% of Gen Z and 67% of Millennials.

Friendsgiving is also a less homebound holiday. Sixty-six percent of celebrants eat at their own or someone else’s home, versus 83% for

Thanksgiving — leaving more room for restaurants, delivery, and prepared grocery food. Consumers are twice as likely to go to a restaurant or bar for Friendsgiving as for Thanksgiving, the report notes.

Two smaller occasions echo the same generational tilt. Gen Z is the likeliest group to observe both Day of the Dead (13%) and the Mid-Autumn Festival (12%), compared with just 2% and 5% of Boomers.

Millennials are the most likely to want limited-edition items or specials for Day of the Dead. And while fewer than one in 10 consumers (8%) celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, 26% of those who do go to a restaurant or bar for food — the highest share of any fall occasion besides Oktoberfest (42%).

There is also a difference in generational appetite for novelty at Thanksgiving. Gen Z (18%) and Millennials (12%) are statistically more likely than older generations to prefer Thanksgiving dishes with a modern twist, such as plant-based turkey or global side dishes.