Lewes Bonfire Night

Oct. 20, 2022

Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and fireworks displays. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords.

You might expect London to be the hub for Britain’s Bonfire Night celebrations, but it’s the sleepy town of Lewes close to the Sussex coast that really comes alive on 5 November. The county town’s cobbled streets draw crowds of up to 30,000 visitors every year for an evening of torch-lit processions, fabulously inventive fancy dress and fireworks.

It is the biggest and the only proper bonfire night celebration left of its kind in the UK. In fact, this is not one celebration as such, there are in fact six separate Lewes Bonfire Society’s all celebrating the Fifth in various parts of the town. Additionally, there will be around 25–30 visiting bonfire societies from all over Sussex, with numerous marching bands.

Watch out for the plus-sized papier-mâché Guy Fawkes, who will be dragged through the streets on a wooden cart before being consigned to the flames later in the evening to jubilant cries of ‘burn him!’ At around 9pm five of the Lewes Bonfire Societies will join up and march back through Lewes town, which can take an hour or so to pass, and then they will follow their own procession routes, with their own traditions, costumes, bonfire, fireworks, tableaux, and set pieces to their own fire sites.

The night ends with a bang, as the societies will compete to put on the biggest and best firework display. If you want to get an idea of what the madness the Lewes Bonfire night could be please follow the link to the video from 2017!

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