We have been hearing fireworks for 3 days now! There was quite a crowd on the tube last night (at midnight). So, someone was heading home after a big night. What a funny celebration (IMHO) If I have this right- Guy Fawkes was the fellow who was going to burn Westminster, so they burn him instead- every year. Anything for a party!
Very few public displays or even back garden parties have Guys that they burn anymore - it is all about the ever more fancy fireworks. I think the Health and Safety regulations preclude bonfires in many places.
It was the other way around when I was a child -the bonfire we built was huge, with a lot of effort being put into a suitably dressed Guy (Dad's old clothes, stuffed with paper and straw). We had hand held sparklers and Dad doing his 'light blue touch paper and retreat' routine with a few rockets and roman candles.
It never occured to me at the what a grisly thing we were imitating! I just wanted the bonfire to burn out so that we could get at the jacket potatoes in the embers.
Posts: 928 | Location: London, UK | Registered: 20 September 2006
Panda I have similar memories - along with my mother's edict that asking for a penny for the old guy was begging - and her children were NOT going to beg. When I think about it she had a very long list of rules to live by - ladies don't chew gum, it is rude to whisper etc. etc.
I really envied my friends who were allowed to push the guy around the neighbourhood in a pram asking for pennies.
Sheena
Posts: 2271 | Location: West Vancouver, B.C. Canada | Registered: 28 February 2004
It's passed now for 2007 but if you're in England for next year don't miss the Bridgwater Guy Fawkes carnival (it also happens in other towns in Somerset such as Glastonbury and North Petherton). It used to be on the first Thursday in November in Bridgwater but is now on the Friday because too many people missed work on the following day. The carnival involves impressive "carts" (floats) powered with generators and featuring massive displays of electric lights a bit like mobile fairground rides, with people dancing on them. There are also "tableaux" which are historical scenes like waxworks on the cart. These people stand for hours in the freezing cold. All the pubs are open, and the carnival is followed by "squibbing" which is a special kind of firework that people carry aloft and run down the street with them sparking off from their shoulders. They used to make the squibs in their garages but it's pretty dangerous and now they are made in a special factory. This is an impressive display of how tradition and excitement has managed to keep itself alive despite the British nanny state. It's a kind of modern tradition and the carnival themes often have a glam-rock look but you'll be amazed at the creative talent of local people. Nothing is quite like it!
