Bonfire Night - Guy Fawkes Night

Festival Location: All Areas, England

Festival Type(s): Fireworks Displays, Historical Festivals, Traditional Festivals

by © Paul Dodson 2009

The Brits love a liberal lashing of irony, and it's with that in mind that every 5th of November they go to great lengths to burn things to the ground and blast things into the stratosphere.

Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night has been celebrated in the UK since that near fateful day in 1605 when a number of sneaky Roman Catholic conspiritors (including Guy Fawkes) attempted to blow to smithereens the Houses of Parliament in London, England in a scenario now known as the Gunpowder plot. As history spells it out, the plot was foiled, Parliament was saved and to the present day Brits spend the anniversary of the event burning effigies (otherwise known as "guys" in reference to our Mr. Fawkes) and setting off fireworks in a celebration of the fact that nothing was burnt or blown up all those years ago. Strange!