Walking up on a cold November night in a local recreational park to see a giant bonfire with 50 foot flames. Along with this the other side of the park was filled with carnival games, food, and rides. Guy Fawkes Night is also known in England as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night, and Firework Night.
The giant blob of yellow is the bonfire. Least you can compare it to the size of the tree next to it since the picture is bad.
Who is Guy Fawkes?
Guy Fawkes is known in Great Britain as the guy who failed in the gunpowder plot in 1605. He planned to assassinate King James I in the Parliament building in London. Within his group, he was in charge of guarding the explosives. He was caught by the authorities, questioned, and then sentenced to death. So, I'm sure you're thinking...what does this have to do with this special night on November 5th?
What is Guy Fawkes Night?
Well Guy Fawkes Night is a celebration. Since King James I escaped, those Londoners were encouraged to start bonfires to celebrate the fact that the king survived the potential assassination. As months went by, they named November 5th as the Observance of 5th November Act. So along with the yearly bonfire nights, there are firework displays as well. Mackey was not enjoying the fireworks part of the night.
Jeff and I walked to the Forest Recreational Grounds to admire the giant bonfire, and within the hour the firework display occurred. To me, it is an odd holiday to celebrate, but we definitely don't have anything like this in America. Jeff made a good point, that we could never have the giant bonfires like this because it would probably start some sort of wildfire since it is so dry in the states compared to the damp English weather.
The firework display!
To see more pictures (since my phone takes awful pictures), check out the Nottingham Post.
Update: As I left the house this morning (about 12 hours since the bonfire went out) our entire house smells like a bonfire and we were over a mile away from the event. There is still a little haze in the air from all the smoke. And the worst---everyone at the gym reeked of bonfire smoke. It must have been seeping out of their (well, our) pores!
Update: As I left the house this morning (about 12 hours since the bonfire went out) our entire house smells like a bonfire and we were over a mile away from the event. There is still a little haze in the air from all the smoke. And the worst---everyone at the gym reeked of bonfire smoke. It must have been seeping out of their (well, our) pores!
Onto the next adventure...
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