Bonfire Night part 2

So on Wednesday we were talking Bonfire Night parade: fire torches, fancy dress, drums and pipers, one whole lot of excitement.  Today it’s the actual bonfire and fireworks part of the night.  The purpose of the parade as far as Im aware is to lead spectators into the field where the bonfire is.  The one at Fletching was a pretty decent size.  I didn’t see it pre-burn so I didn’t see the 'guy' go on but I presume he was on there, but there were definitely a lot of bangers being thrown by the Bonfire society members onto the fire, as it continually exploded.

The fireworks every year at Fletching are genuinely amazing.  Considering it’s a tiny village, and I believe all the money for the fireworks comes from fundraising during the year they are outstanding.  Im not sure what that fundraising involves, but it must be more than just the buckets they carry around for the odd pound at the end of the night.  A solid ten minutes of really good quality display and the whole thing is set to music, there surely must be connections to a pyrotechnic there somewhere.

I have been going to this particular bonfire night for over ten years and every year I go it always lives up to my very high expectations.  However I don't think any year will ever top the first time I went.  The father and I went this one year and parked a couple of miles away and walked along deserted country roads in complete darkness for almost an hour, a really lovely experience that I will never forget.  At the time we wondered what we were going to but eventually we started walking past parked cars and warmly wrapped people.  Turning up super late we were just in time for the fireworks, or more specifically the fire bombs, as I like to call them.  I have never seen anything like it at any other display.  I wish I had a picture but despite there being a countdown in the form of song, the wall of fire shot 7 foot into the night sky and still took me by surprise.

So for an excellent firework display Fletching is your bag, but if you are in Sussex around the 5th of November, you should go to Lewes.  A little Sussex town, it is the bonfire capital of Britain.  With I think 6 separate bonfire societies with individual displays and bonfires, it really is something to behold. They burn numerous effigies and the whole town is lit up in flame.  The crowds are huge, something like 80,000 people de-cend on a town that normally only has 16,000 inhabitants.  It can take half an hour to get from one end of the high street to the other, so not good for those who suffer from claustrophobia.  Don't believe its as amazing as I say?  Youtube it, you'll see!

Bonfire Night- Part 1

Ah the parade is coming! Exciting.  This is a Bonfire boy in the foreground

Full Napoleonic outfits

I believe in the US there are several traditional days of celebration such as halloween, Independence Day and Thanksgiving.  In the UK, we only have the one that I can think of, and its my absolute favourite day of the year.  Cancel christmas, its all about Bonfire night as far as I am concerned.  I would imagine that to foreigners, this is the type of thing the British get up to that gets us the label 'eccentric'.  There is some serious history attached to what is essentially a large fire and fireworks.  Im not about to cover it in great detail, but essentially in November 1605 the Gunpowder plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the king was foiled, and Guy Fawkes, one of the men involved was tortured and executed.  In celebration that the plan was stopped we build giant bonfires, somebody spends a good deal of time carefully constructing a dummy 'Guy' which is paraded through the streets and burnt on top of the bonfire, and then let off copious amounts of fireworks while crowds stand around in the cold.  Quite simply it is amazing.  My brief description does the pageantry of the event absolutely no justice, but luckily I have lots of photos.

The societies' flaming banner in the front, this would be one from Lewes probably

Some societies are older than others, Eastbourne is one of the younger ones.  Fletching was celebrating their centenary

Being that Bonfire Night is November 5th, your probably wondering how I can already have been to it.  Well in the county of Sussex we go to town with bonfire night.  Rather than one big community event held on the 5th, lots of individual towns and villages in Sussex have a bonfire society and put on their own displays.  There are so many that they are held every Saturday from the beginning of September until the end of November.  Going to all of them would definitely be overkill, but I do always try and go to at least one; my absolute favourite at Fletching.  Despite being a tiny village they put on the best fireworks display.

As I get so excited about bonfire night and took a billion photos I am splitting this into two posts so I can fully do it justice.  Todays post will focus on the parade and Friday's the bonfire and fireworks themselves.  The parade alone is really something.  Each bonfire society goes to each other's bonfire night and parade through the streets in fancy dress and carrying flaming torches.  There is a lot of fire, which living in todays society is very unusual.  Its very loud and exciting but a real family event.  If you live in this part of Britain, virtually everybody goes to a bonfire night, you don't have to be a particular fan of country living.

Apparently Attila the Hun enjoys a little pageantry too

Not quite sure where Scottish Pipers fit into the story, but it all adds to the atmosphere

We went out for dinner before going to Fletching and the service was so incredibly slow that we thought we had missed the parade and I literally wanted to stand in the street and cry, but turns out we hadn't.  I can't explain why each society wears what it does and not all are even British things, but there are Red Indians, Victorians, Pearly Kings and of course bonfire boys.  Its traditional for the societies from the town of Lewes to wear stripey jumpers in various colours and white trousers.  The parade leads the crowd into the field for the bonfire, which will be tomorrow!  As for me, well its the 5th so Im off to another one, not on the smae scale as Fletching but who can resist fireworks?!

I know it's a family event but not sure I would personally hold a flaming torch
over my toddler

A full red indian