Why You Need Friendsgiving

As millennials are stepping into adulthood, the idea of family is changing and what better way to celebrate that than with a Friendsgiving feast? Here are some arguments for how a Friendsgiving could top your traditional Turkey Day, or at the very least give your family a case of FOMO.

The Rhody Factor
When it comes to bringing a gift for your host, you can’t go all in on Rhody kitsch if you’re celebrating with family out of state. “It’s just what I’ve always wanted!” said no one from Tuscaloosa ever upon receiving a “Keep Rhode Island Weird” potholder. Luckily if you’re throwing a satellite celebration with friends in the 401, you can go nuts at places like Blue Hydrangea in Wickford (2 Main Street, Wickford. 295-2583, 295Blue.com) or The Beach House (12 High Street, Westerly. 596-7171, TheBeachHouseWesterly.com) without having to avoid a gift with a nautical theme.

The Cure For What Ales Ya
Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones with a family full of beer snobs who would scoff at the idea of a holiday feast being wasted on a fridge full of Coors Light. If not, you’re probably not looking forward to a long meal of extolling the virtues of the growler you brought from Whaler’s Brewing (1174 Kingstown Road, Wakefield. 552-0002, WhalersBrewing.com) or Tilted Barn Brewery (1 Helmsley Place, Exeter. TiltedBarnBrewery.com) to a deaf crowd of pilsner philistines. At Friendsgiving you can talk about hops until your beards fall off.

It’s Star Wars Spoiler Season, Charlie Brown!
Everybody has a friend or a friend of a friend who works at Hasbro, and the amount of spoilers that get printed on toy packaging is staggering. Invite this person to your Friendsgiving. Who knows, maybe with a little luck, a Jedi mind trick and a few extra rounds of mulled cider, you could find yourself in possession of some juicy plot details for Star Wars: Rogue One ahead of its December 16 release date.

Your Friends Are Family, Too
The holiday rulebook is evolving and there’s no better example of that than when friends come together to forge their own traditions alongside or as an alternative to what has been long defined as “a day for family.” Instead of catching up in between one chaotic holiday tradition and another, set aside some time for a low stakes day of food and good cheer with the people who are just as important as the crazy clan you were born into.