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Lewes Bonfire Night
Yesterday was the 5th of November, one very important date in the English calendar.
According to Wikipedia, Guy Fawkes Night is an annual celebration on the evening of 5 November. It marks the downfall of the Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to destroy the Houses of Parliament, in London, United Kingdom.
In Sussex, it is a major festival that centres on Lewes (where we were last night), necessitating the closure of the town centre. The night also commemorates the Glorious Revolution and 17 local Protestant martyrs that were burnt at the stake during Marian Persecutions by the Catholic Queen Mary I. The night begins with torchlight processions in costume by a number of local bonfire societies and culminates in six separate bonfires where effigies of Guy Fawkes, Pope Paul V and topical personalities are destroyed by firework and flame. The burning of an effigy of Pope Paul V is carried out by the Cliffe Bonfire Society alone and they are barred from marching with the main procession.
We ended up at one of the bonfires, not sure from which Society, but it is said to be the biggest one (behind Tesco, for those who know Lewes) out of all 6. There are fireworks all night, it’s pretty awesome!
This years was a lot more quiet than it normally is. The train to Lewes wasn’t as busy as expected and the crowd itself in Lewes was reasonable. This also meant that it was easier to move around and see the processions.
Great night out with some members of Team France from Sussex Uni.
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- Camera: SAMSUNG WB500, WB510 / VLUU WB500 / SAMSUNG HZ10W
- Taken: 2 May, 2009
- Shutter speed: 1/8 s
- Aperture: f/3.3
- Focal length: 4.2 mm
- ISO: 400
Facebook comments:
[...] The village where this picture was taken is called Kingston-Near-Lewes. It is close to the village of Lewes, where the bonfire is being held every year. [...]