You’ll have to excuse me for being too lazy to look this up, but I believe it’s still illegal here to set off fireworks on any day other than November 5th. Special dispensation is presumably given to organised displays.
In any case, even if that’s true it’s a law that is routinely ignored. We don’t need much prompting to have fireworks at pretty much any time of year. One of my neighbours had some for a 21st birthday party last year and they started at 1:00am.
We have picnics and barbecues constantly through the summer*, we don’t need special named days for them.
Having a bonfire party in the darkness of November makes sense to me. It also gives a chance to burn swept leaves and other garden waste. The cold isn’t a problem – you just dress accordingly and have hot food and drink to enjoy. Baked spud and hot mulled wine anyone?
*Don’t laugh, but we’re really having a summer this year – the temperature has averaged over 75 for weeks, although it’s turning a bit showery in time for Wimbledon.
I have always felt that the real effigy on a Guy Fawkes bonfire is the King. This is the ‘secret wish’ of every Brit to see the King and Parliament destroyed. It is given the veneer of respectability by claiming to represent the destruction of the traitor, but really I believe it is a joyous representation of anarchic traitorous feelings.
Nonsense. You have a perfect built-in excuse.
“Remember when we kicked those backward colonials out of the Empire? That was great! 'Ave another beer, mate.”
Well, that’s been said in other threads, Exgineer. I was trying to be polite ;).
Thanks for the explanations. My grandpa, who to his dying day in 2001 had a grudge against the NY Times for something horribly anti-Catholic they published in 1927 (never did find out what it was) would point out GF Day as yet another example of the bloody evil Proddys keepin’ us down 
Glad to know it’s lost all that. Although I shudder to imagine what would happen if an American town regularly burnt an effigy of, say, the Queen every July 4th 