Every year in Britain, on November 5th, as darkness falls, bonfires are lit up and down the country. This is a festival to commemorate the failure of Gunpowder Plot, when Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I in 1605. The festival is also called Guy Fawkes Night or Firework Night because a large number of fireworks are also set off in huge displays.
For a week or so before Bonfire Night, children can be seen on the streets begging for money. They usually have some sort of dummy figure with them, perhaps created from stuffed sacks and wearing a hideous mask, called their "guy" (named after Guy Fawkes, of course). They will approach strangers and beg for money, saying "Penny for the Guy?" Any money that they collect is spent on sweets, or whatever they want.
During this same time, large bonfires are built on public spaces. They may be made from old furniture, brushwood, other scrap pieces of wood. Fireworks are bought in large quantities - rockets, catherine wheels and hand-held sparklers. On the 5th November, people gather and one of the dummy guys is ceremoniously put on the very top of the bonfire. The fire is lit and the guy is burned. This is ironic, as Guy Fawkes and his fellow traitors were not burned - they were hanged, drawn and quartered!
|While the bonfire is lit, the fireworks are set off, and can usually be seen for a long distance (so don't be surprised if you see the sky light up accompanied by many loud bangs). People eat hotdogs or potatoes which have been baked on the fire, and wave sparklers (a type of firework that you hold in your hand and which emit many sparks) around.|