It is a week long event wherein the first day is a High Holy Day of rest and no labor.

After the seventh day of Sukkot, the next day is called Shemini Atzeret, which is also referred to as ‘the eighth day'.  This is also a High Holy Day of rest and no labor.

The Torah calls these days Holy days:

Leviticus 23:33-44   And YHWH spake unto Moses, saying,  ³⁴ Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto YHWH.  ³⁵ On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.  ³⁶ Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.  ³⁷ These are the feasts of YHWH, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:  ³⁸ Beside the sabbaths of YHWH, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto YHWH.  ³⁹ Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto YHWH seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.  ⁴⁰ And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim seven days.  ⁴¹ And ye shall keep it a feast unto YHWH seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.  ⁴² Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:  ⁴³ That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am HWH your Elohim.  ⁴⁴ And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of YHWH.

Sukkot is also called Zeman Simchatenu 'Season of Rejoicing'.  The Sukkot festival of ingathering takes place during the latter day harvest, also referred to as the Fall harvest festival.  We give thanks to YHWH while we dwell in temporary shelters to typify our reliance as spiritual temples, upon Messiah alone in this life.  We rejoice in the spiritual harvest of souls brought to our Heavenly Father by the work of Messiah Yahushua.  Latter rain 'mussaf' is a type of the final harvest and is why we pray for the latter rain, especially during this time.  Our people of Native America also pray by dancing for rain and this is connected to prayer for the cleansing of the earth and emergence of the new creation that we know is the New Jerusalem [Enoch 48:1].  The Mussaf 'prayers for rain' are connected to the water libation ceremony practiced by Yahushua and the first century believers.

The Joseph Smith Translation speaks of the future temple at the millennial harvest:

...for there shall be my tabernacle,

And it shall be called Zion; a New Jerusalem...

And there shall be my abode...

For the space of a thousand years shall the earth rest.

[JST Gen. 7:69-72/Moses 7:62-64]

The Joseph Smith Translation reminds us that our dwelling will be with Messiah once again and His Shekinah will fill His Tabernacle when He dwells with us.

American Indians kept the Festival of Sukkot.  The Yuchi tribe kept an eight day festival on the full moon and lived in temporary booths.  They also formed processions with foliated branches were shaken.

Additionally, the pilgrims from Europe kept the festival of Sukkot as a remembrance to give thanks for when they entered into the new land.

They were leaving pagan observances such as Christmas and desired to keep the prescription of observance in the Torah:

Leviticus 23:39    Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. 

When the Native American Indian and Pilgrams were coming together, it was a type of the two houses coming together, the descendants of the Jews from the family of Lehi and the Gentiles from the Northern Tribes and is a prophetic type of the future coming together of Ephraim and Judah.

This is the season of our joy, when we celebrate with the four species and make temporary shelters in our patios or go camping, or visit others sukkots to remember our prophetic picture of the past and our future in the New Jerusalem. 

The Maccabees were not able to keep Sukkot, due to fighting their enemy and when they finally overcame their enemy, they observed Sukkot for eight days [2 Maccabees 10:6-7], rededicating the Temple and thus since Chanukah means ‘dedication', we remember Chanukah yearly as our victory over hellenization in Israel.

The Temple of Solomon was dedicated on the Feast of Tabernacles [I Ki 8:65] and Yahushua called Himself the ‘light of the world' during the candle lighting ceremony at Sukkot [John 8:12].  Prophetically, the eighth day of Sukkot fulfillment is when the final harvest of souls is brought in [Rev 22:1-2, Ezekiel 47:1-12], symbolizing a new day of the millenium when peace is established [Isaiah 65:17].

May you have a blessed Sukkot season of joy in Yahushua Messiah.