The husband and I plan to be in the UK (specifically England) for our 5th anniversary in 2008, in late October / early November and most likely will be there on November 5. The husband wonders where is a good place to go to see Guy Fawkes activities. Are there bonfires and the like? Fireworks?
With November 5 being a Wednesday in 2008, will any festivitoes take place on the 5th, or are they likely to be shifted to the weekend?
Tell me all you know about November 5!
TIA,
Motorgirl
If you’re anywhere near a town of any size at all, you are morally certain to be able to get to a municipal display - it’ll be widely advertised. Some may be on the Wednesday, but keep your eyes out for displays on either weekend.
Bonfires are becoming rarer but you should be able to find one with a little searching - they may or may not burn a guy on the top of one. Firework displays are still common. There may be sausages inna bun or something of the sort.
Seconding Malacandra, most towns will have the council display in a big public park on the nearest Saturday. Ours in Carlisle attracts 20,000 people to watch a themed bonfire (this a year a giant wooden cake celebrating 21 years of the city putting on the show) followed by a firework display.
If you are after the strong community feel, most of the villages around me (and I expect the trend follows for the country) have a bonfire with guy and fireworks on the 5th.
You would have more of a problem if you didn’t like fireworks, because they are impossible to avoid at that time of year. I happened to be driving down the length of England on Sunday the 4th this year and even out in the sticks there were fireworks going off all the time.
Organised displays will take place on the Saturday and the 5th itself, with some also happening on the Friday and Sunday. You might find a few displays on the following weekend too.
If you’re in London, the top of Primrose Hill is an excellent place to see the fireworks - there’s usually a display on the hill itself, but you can also see the whole of London below you, and dozens of other displays going off all over the city.
Reputedly, the best place for bonfire celebrations is Lewes, in Sussex.
I’ve never seen it myself, but those who have reccommend it.
ETA: Oh, I see that link says that visitors are discouraged. Try and blend in, then.
Lewes is in a rabidly right-wing area, and is a trifle controversial for burning non-Guy Fawkes effigies. One year they burned an effigy of a Gypsy caravan, with replica Gypsy family, including children, inside. Not very pleasant. (That said, in 2001 they burned an effigy of Osama bin Laden.) They also have a procession of burning crosses that are nothing to do with, yet nonetheless invoke, images of the KKK.
Errm… yeah. You know what? I’d read something recently about the Lewes celebrations, and posted without really reading the article properly. And since I read that last bit I’m getting visions of a sort of Wicker Man/League of Gentlemen “this is a local celebration for local people” type of thing going on.
So maybe let’s pretend I never said anything.
I mean, parking’s going to be horrendous anyway, right?
Umm…
I can’t quite figure out if the British people like Guy Fawkes or not. Is he a hero? A villian? An anti-hero?
If you like him so much, why burn him in effigy?
If you don’t like him, why give him a day?
It’s just an excuse to have a big bonfire and let off some fireworks. When I was a kid I had no idea who Guy Fawkes was. We just called it bonfire night, and we didn’t have a guy on the fire. Mind you, my family was nominally Catholic…
You cannot escape the celebrations. Every common in the country will have groups of kids lighting fireworks and most families will be setting them off in their garden or be at a local event. It’s best to get up a hill and watch over towns - it’s impressive seeing thousands of people setting rockets off all night.
Most people don’t really think about it, but in theory he’s a villain. What is being celebrated is the foiling of the plot to blow up Parliament and assassinate the king. That’s why, traditionally, Guy Fawkes is burned in effigy on November 5th.
As to the OP, I always liked to go to Blackheath, London. But as others have said, you’ll have no trouble finding fireworks displays anywhere in England.
So true. And note that it’s not an official ‘day’ in any way, just a tradition. It’s got about as much to do with the prevention of papist regicide as modern Halloween has to do with pagan celebrations.
jjimm and wotnot if your purpose in your posts was to fight ignorance you failed badly and maligned alot of people.
I don’t care that this board is attached to some San Franciso newspaper and the likelihood is that no-one affiliated with the Lewes festivities will read it.
I grew up in that area, Lewes was the nearest town, and guess what, it is surrounded by a heck of alot of villages.
Villiage bonfires are part of the seasonal custom of the area, so all the bonfire societies collude!!! to hold there bonfires on seperate days during the bonfire season … which then allows everyone to be free for the Lewes celebration.
The village which burnt the gypsie caravan as part of it’s bonfire night had done so due to the damage left by your classic migrant gypsie posse of 4X4s and trailers to land around the area. Local people had been very angry at the way they were allowed to trash things and walk away scot free.
The organisers of the bonfire were not afforded that same treatment and were accused of inciting racial hatred. Jobs were lost but no prison time served.
As for Lewes not welcoming outsiders you are kind of missing the point, Lewes is not that big, the procession is huge and there is not much space for the crowd to stand either side of the side street. Overcrowding in the mid-nineties and excessive police deployment killed the mood. So they then stopped train services to dissuade thousands of people to turn up for the sake of it. Oh and yes, parking is not going to happen.
All the bonfire societies come together to show there wears so to speak and there are three seperate bonfires held in the town on the night.
Norsemen in armour carrying burning crosses is a staple … as is mocking and subsequently burning an effigy of the Pope.
Burning tar barrels thrown into the Ouse and rookies detonating in the street are all par for the course. It’s a great atmosphere and a great night out.
You just cant shove 100,000 people in a 20,000 people pot.
It became a victim of its own success, and by the sounds of it, besmirched by disgruntled peoples ignorance.
Ummm
Chicago Newspaper.
Oh and thanks for the responses.
wendigo1974, I can’t speak for jjimm, but I certainly meant no offence, and I apologise for any I caused.
My second post was intended as a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of my belated realisation that recommending Lewes on Bonfire Night was innappropriate, due to the problems they already have with overcrowding.
It never crossed my mind that anyone would really suspect the people Lewes of human sacrifice.
Just to chime in with my own experience of the Lewes fireworks that took place last week. I moved recently to go to university, about 5 miles away from Lewes, and there was a general buzz around campus that going to the fireworks would be a fun night if you were prepared to put up with the crowds and the wait for trains etc, which a lot of people weren’t.
The parade is fantastic, lots of fire, brass bands, bagpipes, and the burning barrels. The costumes were my favourite part! There were Tudors and smugglers and Popes and every sort of war uniform you can imagine, obviously a lot of time and effort and skill is involved. I thought it was very well policed and given the amount of people there I was surprised that I saw zero trouble all night. The police just made sure there was enough room for the parade to go past, there are no barriers between you and the parade, you just get out of the way when it comes by. We went to the public bonfire and fireworks, biggest bonfire I’ve ever seen and the fireworks weren’t too shabby either. I think there were four separate fireworks displays around town that you had to be a resident of Lewes or a bonfire society member to go to.
I was under the impression that the crosses are in remembrance (one for each) of the martyrs who were burnt in the town back in the 14th century. Effigies I saw this year were a traditional Guy Fawkes, all the Beatles set up around a bass drum with Sgt Pepper – 40 years painted on it, a seagull and (as I was informed by a helpful member of the crowd) one of some bloke who tried to ban bangers with a firework up his arse. Not sure what the seagull was about. I got the impression no person or group is safe and the bonfire societies will make effigies of whoever the hell they want. I also felt the mood of the whole thing is cheekiness rather than mean-spirited, as wendigo said, its a great atmosphere and a fun night.
But its reputation does precede it, too many people show up and obviously that causes problems. With no roads open the only way in is by train or walking. Or helicopter. The rush for the train station at the end of the night was crazy, we left a bit early so we only got caught in the other-people-leaving-early-to-beat-the-rush rush, but even that had us packed in the train like sardines. Later on in the night it would be horrendous. Lewes is a small town, with pretty cobbled streets and stuff, just not able to accommodate so many people. I can see why they actively discourage people from coming. I suppose technically I was one of those out-of-towners being part of the problem and I realise that. While it was an excellent night and I’m glad I was there to see it I doubt I’ll go again. They don’t need more people than they can help, I didn’t see it advertised anywhere and EVERYBODY knows about it, even newcomers to the area like me. And fireworks are fireworks wherever you go, and it’s almost guaranteed any town in England you happen to be in will have some. The parade makes Lewes stand out, but to answer **Motorgirl’s** original question (finally), buy some sparklers and go to wherever is nearest to you that looks like it will have some nice fireworks. Don’t spend too much money getting somewhere that’s meant to be totally awesome because you’ll have just as much fun somewhere local!