Bonfire Night 2018: fireworks displays and events in the Lancaster area

From the large-scale fireworks displays to smaller community events, here’s a comprehensive guide to what’s on near you around Bonfire Night this year.

Remember to wrap up warm and stay safe amid the sparklers and rockets.

Lancaster Fireworks Spectacular

Saturday November 3 from Lancaster Castle. Free wristbands available for official viewing areas. Display can be seen right across the city. From 8pm.

Bolton-le-Sands

Saturday November 3 at the community centre playing field. Bonfire and fireworks. Ticket only.

Vale of Lune RUFC, Lancaster

Sunday November 4 from 6pm. Bonfire and fireworks. Free entry. Fun fair, bar and food.

Kirkby Lonsdale Rugby Club, Kirkby Lonsdale

Monday November 5 from 5pm. Bonfire and fireworks. Adults £5, children £2. Free parking.

Burton-in-Kendal

Monday November 5. Bonfire and fireworks at the recreation ground. Best pumpkin and guy competition. Gates open 5.30pm.

Entry is £3, pre school and under free.

Hornby

Monday November 5 in the field by the river. Bonfire and fireworks from 6.30pm. Adults £2, children £1.

Caton

Saturday November 10 at the Baptist Church. Bonfire and fireworks. Entry is free.

A History of Bonfire Night

“Remember remember the fifth of November.” But just why do we venture out into the cold to stand around a bonfire and set off fireworks every year?

Of course, it’s all to do with Guy Fawkes who, on November 5, 1605, was arrested while guarding the explosives he and a team of accomplices had placed beneath the House of Lords.

The Gunpowder Plot was intended as a murderous prologue to a Midlands revolt designed to disrupt a ceremony in which King James I’s nine-year-old daughter was to be installed as the Catholic head of state.

But it failed when authorities were tipped off by an anonymous letter.

In its early days, Bonfire Night was an enforced public day of thanksgiving, celebrating the fact that King James I’s life was spared by the plot’s failure.

Gunpowder Treason Day was the main English state commemoration, but it wasn’t originally the cosy celebration with sparklers and hot drinks we’ve come to know today.

With strong anti-Catholic overtones, violence was known to flare up, and sermons warning against the dangers of Catholicism were often preached against a backdrop of burning effigies of the Pope.

Even long after the day’s origins, 19th century towns saw class-warfare erupt; it wasn’t until 1859 – when the Observance of 5th November Act was repealed – that the violence began to subside.

By the 20th century, the event became more recognisable as the Bonfire Night we know today, with the setting off of fireworks a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for Guy Fawkes’ sternly guarded cargo.