| Rye Bonfire | |
|---|---|
 Rye Bonfire 2024 | |
| Status | active |
| Frequency | annually |
| Location(s) | Rye, East Sussex |
| Coordinates | 50°57′09″N0°44′14″E / 50.9526°N 0.7371°E |
| Attendance | c. 10,000 (2024) |
| Website | www |
The Rye Bonfire, also known as the Great Rye Fawkes Pageant, is an annual bonfire event in Rye, East Sussex, England. Run by the Rye and District Bonfire Society, the event occurs in November and includes a town parade, fireworks, and a bonfire usually featuring a boat burning.
The Rye Bonfire is an annual bonfire event, occurring every November to celebrate Guy Fawkes night. The event, started by a maroon, begins with a procession through the town, consisting of torch-wielding representatives from bonfire societies, Scorcher the dragon, and the Ryebellion drummers. The parade winds through the town of Rye, until ending at the Rye Salts where a bonfire, usually with a boat on top, is lit. The event then finishes with a firework display. The bonfire is organised by the Rye and District Bonfire Society, who fundraise throughout the year to be able to stage the event. [1] [2] [3] [4]
As of 2024, the event costs c. £20,000 to stage, which is all financed by the fundraising activities of the society. The annual attendance is estimated to be c. 10,000. [3]
The tradition and history behind the modern event, although not confirmed, has been researched. The boat burning custom started before the 1605 events that are commemorated by Guy Fawkes night, with the late 14th century posited as the likely beginning. At that time the Rye town was subject to invasion and attack by the French, and the inhabitants of Rye would implement a "scorched earth" policy and burn their boats rather than let them be captured. This led to the saying that "Rye Burns Its Boats". Following the lessening of the threat from France, the annual bonfire and boat burning continued, and became a night of "mob rule" and "settling of scores". In 1875 the head constable, Parker Butcher, did attempt to halt proceedings but was deposited into a burning boat instead. By the 20th century the event became largely lawful, with the grand procession, including floats, becoming known as a major feature from the 1950s. [5] [6]
In 1947 the bonfire event, as documented by Pathé News, featured a large bonfire and a finale with fireworks. [7] Since the 1950s the procession has featured Scorcher, a mechanical fire breathing dragon that is controlled by an operator sitting inside the chest area. [5]
Following a cessation that began in the 1980s, the event was restarted in 1994 with comedian Spike Milligan, as "Rye Fawkes", lighting the bonfire. [8] [3] [9] In both 2023 and 2024 the local train station was closed during the event, according to the train operator this was "for reasons of public safety". [10] [11] The 2024 event featured the usual parade route, Scorcher the dragon, fireworks, and an effigy of Guy Fawkes on top of the bonfire which satirised the government cuts to the winter fuel payment. [1]
In 2024 the Daily Telegraph newspaper and the Country Living magazine both listed the Rye bonfire as one of the UK's best bonfire nights. [12] [13]
The Fallas is a traditional celebration held annually in commemoration of Saint Joseph in the city of Valencia, Spain. The five main days celebrated are from 15 to 19 March, while the Mascletà, a pyrotechnic spectacle of firecracker detonation, takes place every day from 1 to 19 March. The term Fallas refers to both the celebration and the Falla monuments burnt during the celebration. The Fallas festival was added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage of humanity list on 30 November 2016. A number of towns in the Valencian Community have similar celebrations inspired by the original Fallas de Valencia festival. For example, the Bonfires of Saint John in Alicante or the Fiestas de la Magdalena in Castellón de la Plana.
East Sussex is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is the city of Brighton and Hove, and the county town is Lewes.
A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration.
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of European origin. In these cultures it is traditionally regarded as the middle of summer, with the season beginning on May Day. Although the summer solstice falls on 20, 21 or 22 June in the Northern Hemisphere, it was traditionally reckoned to fall on 23–24 June in much of Europe. These dates were Christianized as Saint John's Eve and Saint John's Day. It is usually celebrated with outdoor gatherings that include bonfires and feasting.
Saint John's Eve, starting at sunset on 23 June, is the eve of the feast day of Saint John the Baptist. This is one of the very few feast days marking a saint's birth, rather than their death. The Gospel of Luke states that John was born six months before Jesus; therefore, the feast of John the Baptist was fixed on 24 June, six months before Christmas. In the Roman calendar, 24 June was the date of the summer solstice, and Saint John's Eve is closely associated with Midsummer festivities in Europe. Traditions are similar to those of May Day and include bonfires, feasting, processions, church services, and gathering wild plants.
A sparkler is a type of hand-held firework that burns slowly while emitting bright, colored sparks. It burns in high temperature, so it can be very dangerous.
An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain traditions around New Year, Carnival and Easter. In European cultures, effigies were used in the past for punishment in formal justice when the perpetrator could not be apprehended, and in popular justice practices of social shaming and exclusion. Additionally, "effigy" is used for certain traditional forms of sculpture, namely tomb effigies, funeral effigies and coin effigies.
Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America.
Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and fireworks displays. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605 O.S., when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. The Catholic plotters had intended to assassinate Protestant king James I and his parliament. Celebrating that the king had survived, people lit bonfires around London. Months later, the Observance of 5th November Act mandated an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.
The Sussex Bonfire Societies are responsible for the series of bonfire festivals concentrated on central and eastern Sussex, with further festivals in parts of Surrey and Kent from September to November each year.
The burning of Judas is an Easter-time ritual that originated in European Christian communities where an effigy of Judas Iscariot is burned. Other related mistreatment of Judas effigies include hanging, flogging, and exploding with fireworks. A similar ritual in Jewish tradition would be the hanging and burning an effigy of Haman and his ten sons during Purim, although this is not a widespread contemporary practice.
The West Country Carnival Circuits are an annual celebration featuring a parade of illuminated carts in the English West Country. The celebration dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The purpose is to raise money for local charities.
The Longmead Stadium is an association football stadium in Tonbridge, Kent, England. It is home to Tonbridge Angels, who currently compete in the National League South.
Burning the Clocks is a winter solstice festival that takes place each year in Brighton, England. It has taken place since 1994 as a response to Christmas commercialisation.
Lewes Bonfire, or Bonfire for short, describes a set of celebrations held in the town of Lewes in Sussex, England, that constitute the United Kingdom's largest and most famous Bonfire Night festivities, with Lewes being called the bonfire capital of the world.
Sparks in the Park is an annual fireworks display held in Cardiff, Wales on or around Guy Fawkes Night.
The Gunpowder Plot was a failed assassination attempt against King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The conspirators' aim was to blow up the House of Lords at the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605, while the king and many other important members of the aristocracy and nobility were inside. The conspirator who became most closely associated with the plot in the popular imagination was Guy Fawkes, who had been assigned the task of lighting the fuse to the explosives.
Pope Night was an anti-Catholic holiday celebrated annually on November 5 in the colonial United States. It evolved from the British Guy Fawkes Night, which commemorates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Pope Night was most popular in the seaport towns of New England, especially in Boston, where it was an occasion for drinking, rioting, and anti-elite protest by the working class.
Bonfire Night is a name given to various yearly events marked by bonfires and fireworks. These include Guy Fawkes Night in Great Britain; All Hallows' Eve ; May Eve ; Midsummer Eve/Saint John's Eve ; the Eleventh Night among Northern Ireland Protestants; and the Feast of the Assumption among Northern Ireland Catholics.
England traditionally celebrates a number of Christian and secular festivals. Most are observed throughout the country but some, such as Oak Apple Day, Souling, Rushbearing, Bawming the Thorn, and Hocktide, are local to certain regions.
Media related to Rye Bonfire at Wikimedia Commons