Guido

Guy Fawkes night is one of my favourite festivals. I think part of the reason may be that it is now 100% hedonistic. No-one will exhort you to remember the original meaning, because the original meaning is bloody horrible. It is, as far as I know, one of only two holidays that were nominally founded to celebrate a miscarriage of justice and a monstrous execution.

If you're not familiar with the story, incidentally, it harkens back to 1606. English policy at the time was to oppress Roman Catholics and war on countires that had a lot of them, and our chickens came home to roost in the form of horrific terrorism. The conspirators were foiled at the last minute, confessions extracted under torture, and with a great hurrah another tedious round of religious persecution started. It makes me glad that in these enlightened days we're above all that nonsense.

Consequently, Bonfire Night is about as unselfconscious as a holiday can now be. And fireworks are awesome.