Remember, remember the fifth of November
 

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent to blow up King and Parliament.
Three-score barrels of powder below to prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd with a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

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This "bonfire night" sounds pretty cool, any of you Brits have big plans for the 5th of November? I want to celebrate this holiday here in the US! I don't think that the average American has any clue about this holiday, and that should be changed!

I lived in near Lewes, East Sussex for four years as a teenager and Guy Fawkes night was really fun. Lots of fires everywhere, and in the main park there was a massive bonfire with burning effigies of various royalty and political figures. It was the sort of party where the whole town could get involved and it didn't matter if you didn't know someone... you hung out and drank together anyways.

One of these years I'd love to go again.

Shit that sounds awesome as hell :( I wish they did that kind of thing where I live!

But explain something maybe... I don't know much about this guy fawkes guy, nor the holiday. I just saw V for Vendetta is my amount of knowledge on this, and the movie makes him look a hero. Why would people burn effigies of him? Is this a negative thing to disgrace guy fawkes?

I ask because the movie makes him look a hero, with V taking over his heroic quest to free the people, but this story leads me to believe otherwise.

back when I was a kid (late 60's) bonfire night was big in suburban Toronto as well.

I remember the Guy Fawkes tradition quite well...

Where I come from, in the north east of England, Bonfire Night (or 'Bommey Night' as we often call it) is more for children. The Fire Brigade and Hospital Services tend to frown upon the occasion, for obvious reasons, as do adults in general, as pets are usually upset by all the noise, and people often get up on November 6th to discover that their plastic wheelybins have been set ablaze and melted, or stolen to collect firewood in. By 'firewood', I mean tree branches, garden gates - anything flammable that isn't nailed down, basically. Kids often collect things to burn for weeks in advance of Bonfire Night, and stash the hoard somewhere deserted. If not, rival mobs pinch it, unless it's too heavy to shift discreetly, in which case they normally just set it all on fire, there and then. Needless to say, this has virtually led to gang warfare on a number of occasions - boys beating the crap out of each other because of a pile of old wood! Madness. I'm amazed that adults don't do more to clampdown on the proceedings, as allowing the nation's children to arm themselves with fireworks isn't a very clever idea - and there are those inventive individuals who do things like throw pressurized aerosol cans onto the bonfire, so you have to duck to avoid flying shards of metal when the thing explodes. It's anarchy for a week or so, not just Bonfire Night, although I do get the impression that the tradition is slowly dying out - today's sophisticated youngsters are more interested in games consoles and DVDs than playing outside, which is probably a good thing.

I don't know where the burning of effigies comes from - I imagine it was probably an exercise in royalist propoganda, although those who disagreed with the monarchy where hardly likely to have been burning dummies of Guy Fawkes. I come from a part of England that backed Oliver Cromwell in overthrowing King Charles I, so I often ponder how history would have turned out if the Catesby plotters had used a shorter fuse. ;)

I vote we bring Guy Fawkes Night to Canada. South Africa celebrates it, Australia celebrates it (I think, anyway), why can't we?

We can do it in Scarborough. The police wouldn't think anything of a bonfire there, anyway.

I went to a Guy Fawkes day celebration with my cousin a few years back in London. We saw an awesome fireworks display downtown. Quite fun. Loud music. Great excuse to celebrate in one of the dreariest seasons.

that's a great movie. i never got around to reading the graphic novel yet, though

also, how to celebrate it? why, with fireworks and classical music, of course. blowing up an historical/political building is optional

I'm gonna be at home, making sure the two cats and two dogs don't die of panic attacks. >.> Joy.

I've never understood why you'd want to commemorate the failed attempt at blowing up your government, but I've never understood the English anyway >_>

I actually heard something on the radio this morning about a celebration being held somewhere around here in Baltimore, so I'm sure there are a few places that do this.

Of course, they didn't say anything about burning effigies, and if there isn't any effigy-burning then I don't want to be involved.

I think it started more out of anger and revenge then out of celebration. Kind of like if Americans started getting together on September 11 to burn effigies of Osama Bin Laden.

Patriotic celebration against a common enemy.

It's also my girlfriend's birthday.

If one were to burn a effigy of a current president in the US, would that be illegal? I know it's illegal to make a death threat...

We can! And we should! We could come up with something similar, related to the FLQ.