Bonfire Night
Bonfire Night, on the 5th November, is celebrated in Great Britain with bonfires and fireworks to commemorate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, one of the plotters, are commonly burned on bonfires; in the days (or weeks) prior to 5 November, British children display these effigies in the streets and seek money for fireworks with the words "Penny for the Guy". In south-east England, particularly in the county of Sussex (formerly a radical Protestant area), Bonfire Societies are a strong local tradition: these compete to have the most impressive bonfires, firework displays and parades. These reach a climax in the town of Lewes, East Sussex, where parades and bonfires are held simultaneously by a number of societies.[1] The Lewes celebrations have caused controversy in recent years through the perpetuation by one society of its tradition of burning an effigy of the Pope, and by the carrying of 'No Popery' banners.
