Which is the best fireworks to go to

[gaijingirl]

Yes I am indeed a girl. It was my attempt at humour

... I did think - "maybe it's humour?" - but I'm too tired pre-half term to recognise humour these days - as the girls at school are discovering to their cost.. So me being crap - not you!

 

[Kanda]

I'm torn between the Lord Mayors Show ones and Blackheath. Do you get a good view from Greenwich Park? I think you're mad btw, it's my dream to swan past the plebs to a private viewing area.

Greenwich Park is the hospitality, you can't view it from there.

 

[Pip]

Greenwich Park is the hospitality, you can't view it from there.

Oh ffs. Get off this thread.

 

[monsterbunny]

Sadly no, the heath is on higher ground than the lower reaches of the park.

 

[Badgers]

volenti non fit injuria

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Does anyone know the story behind the Hastings procession/bonfire/fireworks that took place last Saturday.

We found out about it at the last minute. Bonfire societies from around the South East all paraded through the town, mostly in fancy dress, before burning their various banners/placards on the fire.

 

[alsoknownas]

On Hackney Downs the locals present an impromptu display of fireworks, including the speciality 'horizontal fireworks', and the hand-held mortars and Roman Candles. Seeing people fearlessly embracing the elemental forces of fire and death in such a primal way warms the heart and is a great antidote to the commercialisation of Nov 5th.










Ignore the above advice. You probably might die if you go there.

 

[g force]

St. Reatham for me...30 secs from my front door! Then i'm sneaking into my office in the City on Sat night to watch the Thames from the 15th floor

 

[dweller]

I like Ally Pally coz you always get a beer festival (this year german beerfest style) for the olds and funfair for the kids and shelter if it pisses down,
this year there is a Queen cover band playing too

 

[PacificOcean]

I'm off to Thorpe Park.

Great firework display and the rides are open to 8pm.

Stealth in the dark!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

[Groucho]

Does anyone know the story behind the Hastings procession/bonfire/fireworks that took place last Saturday.

We found out about it at the last minute. Bonfire societies from around the South East all paraded through the town, mostly in fancy dress, before burning their various banners/placards on the fire.

Across East Sussex each town has a bonfire society. On Saturdays in the run up to bonfire night each town has a turn hosting a bonfire night torchlight costume parade. Some of the Societies - like Hastings - are 100s of years old. Towns like Burgess Hill each have a society and costume theme. These towns turn up to each others and don't clash in order to have a decent turn out and procession because...they would otherwise look silly compared to...

On bonfire night itself (unless bonfire night is on a Sunday in which case it'll be Sat 4th) it is the turn of the small town of Lewes which has no less than 6 bonfire societies. No other town's processions go to Lewes. Lewes on its own is bigger and better than all the others for miles around. Half the adult population take part in the procession. The displays are self funded via a voluntary tax paid by the Societies members. Each society has strict rules and a boundary. Look Lewes is a bit strange alright, I mean they host the World's only Dwyle dunking competition amd they have theor own currency.

Oh the origins? It follows a long Sussex tradition of bonfires and anti-Catholic riots. In Lewes it commemorates the Sussex Martyrs (tortured and burned for not accepting the wine turns to real blood - Lewes folk will not be druv). Obviously it is also tied up with the commemoration of the failure of the gunpowder plot. But bonfires at this time of year pre-date the gunpowder plot, the Sussex martyrs and for that matter Christianity. For this time of year is celebrated the turning of the seasons and the feast and the fires of Samhain have been celbrated on these islands for thousands of years.

 

[Groucho]

I reckon the point was that the celebrations take place on Bonfire Night proper, unlike say London where most displays are on the nearest weekend.

Yes, unless 5 Nov falls on a Sunday, in which case bonfire night is on Sat 4th. There really is no point in calling any day 'bonfire night' unless it is the day upon which the Lewes celebration falls. Rembember, remember the 5th of November unless that is a Sunday...

If we link bonfire night to Samhain rather than the gunpowder plot, which we may, if we like, there is no reason for it to fall on a particular day. Bonfire night now falls obn 5 Nov whilst other aspects of Samhain celebrations are usually celebrated on the eve of the christian All Hallows (All Saints Day). Hallowe'en. The early Samhain used to be trigerred by seasonal changes, but any time from around 31 October to say 5 Nov is good.