Bonfire Night

Last night Brian and I went to the nearby town of Lewes to watch the 5th of November celebrations. In 1605, Guy Fawkes and a group of co-conspirators plotted to assassinate James I and other members of the royal family by blowing up the Houses of Parliment during the State Opening on November 5th. This became known as the Gunpowder Plot and it came very near to suceeding. The plotters were Catholics hoping to gain control of the government and bring Britain back to the Roman Catholic church, or at least to allow greater freedom of belief and worship for British Catholics. The conspirators warned several Catholic Members of Parliment to stay away from the opening ceremonies, and word leaked out that something was afoot. Inquiries were made and on November 4th Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellar of the House of Lords with 36 barrels of gunpowder and matches.

Though originally an anti-Catholic celebration, Bonfire Night is now just a chance to set off some fireworks and perhaps burn your favourite villian in effigy.

Lewes has one of the most famous Bonfire Night celebrations in the whole of the UK, and since we live less than 10 minutes away, we really wanted to go. It is not a baby friendly event (as you will soon see) so a friend of ours kindly watched Iain for us.

Walking along the street before the main procession, we ran into this group.

There are 6 Bonfire Societies in Lewes, all with their own costumes, traditions, effigies, torches, and bonfires. They all come together to form a main procession and then each head off to let off fireworks at their bonfire site. The festivities last for hours and the societies prepare for them all year long.

The main procession on the high street.




Brian by the light of the road flares some of them were carrying. Yes, road flares! Along with the torches and flares, many of the Bonfire Boys let off firecrackers in the street.


When the torches burned too low, the Bonfire Boys simply dropped them in the street. These guys came through and picked them up. Until then, everyone just had to step around them. We had one dropped right in front of us as we watched the parade.






Here's a fun video of the insanity that is Bonfire Night in Lewes.


After watching the procession for a while, we headed off to the first bonfire site. They had the largest fire I have ever seen. It was at least 2 stories tall and the heat was so intense that you couldn't stand to be within 20 feet of it.

The embers were so pretty floating off into the cold November sky.

Next to the bonfire were the fireworks displays. I've never been so close to the display. Guy Fawkes was there, and the Pope, and the Beatles. The Beatles didn't get burnt because theirs was a tribute effigy to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper album.


We had a really great time. It was so very different from anything we'd been to before. It felt very rebellious and reckless, but there were lots of police and safety officers there, and it all seemed to go very well.