Guy Fawkes Night(Nuit des feux de joie) en 🇬🇧 Royaume-Uni

Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, is celebrated on November 5 throughout the United Kingdom, commemorating the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when Guy Fawkes and fellow conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I. The tradition of lighting bonfires began that very night, when Londoners lit fires to celebrate the king's survival, and has continued for over four centuries.

The centerpiece of celebrations is the bonfire, often topped with an effigy of Guy Fawkes. In the weeks leading up to November 5, children traditionally made guys from old clothes stuffed with newspaper and paraded them through the streets asking for a penny for the guy, though this custom has largely faded. Community bonfires in parks, fields, and private gardens bring neighbors together on a cold autumn evening.

Fireworks are an essential component, ranging from modest backyard displays to massive professional shows organized by local councils and community groups. The tradition of buying fireworks from shops and letting them off in back gardens has been curtailed by safety regulations, though many families still organize small displays. The crack and whistle of fireworks echoing across neighborhoods for the week surrounding November 5 is one of the defining sounds of British autumn.

Traditional Bonfire Night foods include toffee apples, parkin (a sticky ginger and treacle cake particularly popular in northern England), bonfire toffee, baked potatoes cooked in the embers, and sausages. Mugs of tomato soup and hot chocolate warm cold hands. The Lewes Bonfire celebrations in Sussex are the most famous in England, featuring torch-lit processions by bonfire societies in historical costumes, burning effigies of contemporary public figures, and a spectacular fireworks display that draws tens of thousands of visitors.

British tradition on November 5 commemorating the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, celebrated with bonfires, fireworks, and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes across the United Kingdom.