Gunpowder & Fireworks!

This post will be short but I find this English tradition so interesting I must share!

At midnight on November 4, 1605 a guy by the name of Guy Fawkes was caught red-handed along with 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath the House of Lords, which is where the parliament was located and where the king would have been the next morning. A group of activists spent over 18 months planning what would be known as the “Gunpowder Plot.” Although Guy did not act alone in his attempt to destroy England’s government, he claimed most of the fame for the incident because he endured two days of torture before admitting his involvement. After being found out, he was tortured even more and then publically hung and burned to death.

So this is where it gets interesting! Every year on November 5^th England celebrates “Bonfire Day.” Communities all over the country gather separately for a larger than life bonfire, live music, food and fireworks. When I was first told of this “holiday” I didn’t quite understand. My first response was, “Wait, so the entire English population gets together to celebrate the fact that some crazy man tried to destroy your entire government!?” It doesn’t really make sense. I guess it’s a celebration that the parliament was in fact saved.

Ironically, I happened to be in England on November 5^th and was invited by one of the residents at the center if I’d like to join her and her family for the event in town. It ended up being very nostalgic. I got to play with sparklers, which I haven’t done since my childhood days on the farm in Iowa! We enjoyed a HUGE bonfire (with a fake Guy Fawkes sitting at the top), hot chocolate and live music. There were fireworks but I can’t really say I enjoyed them. I thought it was kind of odd how close they were setting them off to the people but I didn’t think too much about it. That is until a four-foot wooden support beam from one of the fireworks came flying over a crowd of people and hit ME! Out of everywhere it could have landed…. I will forever be terrified of fireworks.

All in all, a good night =)