Hong Kong’s colourful festivals, from the lion dances of Lunar New Year to moon-gazing at mid-autumn, mark the passing of the seasons.
I very much enjoyed them when living in the city. But there was one British festival that I missed while residing in Hong Kong. Guy Fawkes Night was a source of great excitement during my childhood in London, matched only by Christmas and my birthday.
This November 5, as there is every year, there will be celebrations in Britain, with spectacular firework displays, torch-lit processions and bonfires. It is a bit like the Tai Hang Fire Dragon meets the national day fireworks.
The festival, commemorating the failed attempt by Catholic conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, is especially popular in Kent, southern England, where I live.
I tried to get into the spirit each November 5 during my 28 years in Hong Kong, but it didn’t really work. I would re-read the history of the Gunpowder Plot and cook “traditional” bonfire night food, such as jacket potatoes, sausages and beans.
Sometimes the Disney fireworks across the water happily coincided. And once, I even managed to light a bonfire while living in Mui Wo, Lantau.
Back in Britain, preparations for the festival have been months in the making. Many villages have their own bonfire societies, responsible for organising their event.
The biggest carnival is in Lewes, on the south coast, where six societies organise festivities. There is a famous procession that includes effigies of political figures.
Tonight I’ll attend the bonfire celebration in my own village. Last year, my wife and I endured a miserable wait in pouring rain. But it was worth it.
The bonfire was a towering inferno and the effigy of Guy Fawkes, engulfed by flames, haunting. The fireworks, as always, were a joy.
It amazes me that boxes of fireworks can still be bought from registered shops for private use. As a kid, my dad would light these explosives in the back garden, a thrilling but perilous exercise. There are multiple hospital admissions every year.
The Gunpowder Plot conspirators were challenging the oppression of their religion by violent means.
They have long been viewed in Britain as traitors, and today would be called terrorists. But in recent years, following the 2005 film V for Vendetta, Guy Fawkes has, for some, become a symbol of revolutionary protest.
Most people celebrating in Britain today will not be worrying too much about the history or the politics. They just want a nice warming bonfire and to enjoy the fireworks, knowing they are keeping this long tradition alive.
Let’s hope they do so safely.
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