Bonfire Night
- palkajenna
- Nov 26, 2022
- 2 min read
Especially if you've seen V for Vendetta, you may be familiar with the following rhyme:
Remember, Remember The fifth of November, The gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason Why the gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.
What you may not know (or at least I didn't) is that Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night is still celebrated in Britain and a few other countries around the world.
The history behind the rhyme and the holiday centers on a failed coup in 1605. In short, a group of conspirators plotted to blow up Parliament by filling a vault below it with barrels of gunpowder. An anonymous letter, likely sent by one of the conspirators, led to a thorough search of the area and foiled the plot when Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding the vault. In the aftermath, the fifth of November was declared a national day of thanksgiving and each of the conspirators ultimately died for their treason.
You can read more at the following sources (or find V for Vendetta, a dystopian spin on the history, on most streaming platforms):
Leicester's local celebration of Bonfire Night was held in Abbey Park, I checked it out with a group of cohort colleagues. We arrived just in time to see the massive bonfire ignite, which was fantastic. There was a perimeter set maybe 20 yards from the pyre, but after the flames took hold you could still feel the heat quite strongly.
The smoke and sparks swirling above the blaze were wonderful to watch, and the brightness of the flames dwarfed the light of the near-full moon overhead.
After that, we wandered around the celebration grounds to check out the other festivities. There was a stage with live music and entertainment, and behind that a whole fun fair complete with games, rides, and food stalls. We didn't partake, just chatted among ourselves mostly, before turning back to the main stage for the main celebration.
We squeezed our way to the front to watch the fire-dancers perform which was very impressive. The host then gave a speech thanking sponsors & attendees before counting down to the highlight of the show: fireworks!
The show was probably the longest & best we'd seen around Leicester so far. I found the unique soundtrack intriguing: the countdown led immediately into Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, and the show concluded with John Williams' Imperial March.
The end of the show signaled the end of the celebration and we made our way out of the park with the crowd of fellow attendees, past the lively embers of the bonfire. All in all, I enjoyed the event and the opportunity to have a cozy evening out with friends.
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