Fireworks in London

This year is the 407th anniversary of Guy Fawkes’ notorious gunpowder plot. London will be burning brightly on the 5th November (and the weekend leading up to it), followed the week after by the Lord Mayor’s Show. It promises to be an explosive Autumn.

The year was 1605, and the story has since become embedded in the national myth. Ardent republican and devout Catholic Guy Fawkes, with a band of like-minded miscreants, attempted to assassinate Protestant King James by blowing up the Houses of Parliament. The attempt failed, and Fawkes’ subsequent execution for treason has been commemorated each year since with audacious displays of fireworks and effigy-burning bonfires.

Fireworks in London, England, UK by Dominic Alves

It’s a national performance of pyrotechnics, played out across the country. London – home of the plotters and their political targets – naturally boasts some of the biggest events, both municipal and privately organized. Annual shows include Enfield Town Park and Brockwell Park.

Festivities begin on Friday 2nd November, with a number of shows taking place in West London, with Kingston a perennial favourite. For those south of the river, there will be events in Wimbledon Park and Dulwich Park. Most events kick off between 6 and 8, with entry fees ranging from zero to around £7 for adults.

On Guy Fawkes night itself, Monday 5th, the Battersea Park display promises to be a real highlight of the season. Blackheath and Southgate are among the other regions providing full public displays, with the usual assortment of funfairs and food stalls to keep the huddled masses warm and entertained. Entry to most events is less than ten pounds.

But it’s the post-script to Guy Fawkes night which has the longer history and arguably the more impressive fireworks. Boasting ‘the most dangerous and amazing of all the public fireworks shows in the capital’, the Lord Mayor’s Show has been setting London ablaze since at least 1535, with some version of the event dating back to 1215. The show welcomes in the new Lord Mayor of the city with a combination of explosive-packed barges on the Thames, acrobatic displays, thousands of citizenry and hundreds of floats parading through the streets, and the bombast of a military marching band.

On November 10th, the show is announced open at 11am by a fly-past from an RAF squadron, before the procession makes its way through Bank and Aldwych. Finally, the crowds witness the emergence of the Lord Mayor from a gilded State Coach, having sworn allegiance to the Queen at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Some 500,000 spectators are expected to line the city streets. The fireworks begin at 5pm, launched from a barge situated between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridge, with Embankment generally regarded as the best vantage point from which to watch the display.

Looking for a hotel in London this autumn? Consider a stay at the Holiday Inn London Regent’s Park hotel for a central, great value accommodation option.

Tags: bonfires, brockwell park, devout catholic, enfield town, food stalls, funfairs, gunpowder plot, guy fawkes night, houses of parliament, london england uk, national myth, national performance, political targets, protestant king, public displays, west london, wimbledon park

Category: Cities, Cities