Travel Tips

One festival perculiar to Britain is Guy Fawkes Day which is celebrated every year on 5th November.The festival is a celebration marking the foiled gun powder plot that was created in order to overthrow power in the British Empire.The gun powder plot as it is known today was a plan hatched by a large group of Catholic conspirators lead by Guy Fawkes.Guy Fawkes and his men planned to bomb the houses of parliament and kill the then King of England, King James I.Guy Fawkes and his men were caught red handed trying to execute one of their plans.The festival since then has been a celebration of what England was and what it has been since the event had occurred so many centuries ago.

History of Guy Fawkes Day

The plot of this foiled gun powder incident can be in detail seen in the movie V for Vendetta that actually made the premise of the entire plot more interesting and brought to focus the entire nature of such an act. The punishment for the conspirators was to be hanged, drawn and quartered – in other words killed for the crime of Treason. A visionary, Guy Fawkes inspired a group of people to commit the crime, and despite being killed is still held to be something of an inspiational figure. The plot is drummed into British schoolchildren by use of a little rhyme which begins ‘remember remember, the fifth of November’.

Guy Fawkes Day Customs and Activities

The celebration for this event generally occurs in the form of fireworks and festivities. It’s also customary to light a bonfire as part of the festivities. The festival is not only celebrated in Britain, but also sometimes in other commonwealth countries such as Australia, South Africa and Canada.

Because of a ban on fireworks, Barbuda and Antigua no longer celebrate Guy Fawkes Day.In Canada, the festival has a lot of following especially in the British occupied areas of Newfoundland and Labrador.These areas are teeming with bonfires and fireworks at the time of Guy Fawkes Night.It is in England however that the festivities are at the grandest.People come out on to the streets and celebrate the victory of the Government. The festival continues to be celebrated, even though it is now over 400 years since the event occured.

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