Lighting Up The Town

KEITH LEECH on the Sussex Bonfires.

Photos by STAPH

This year Hastings Bonfire was on Saturday 17 October. People ask, why is it always the Saturday closest to the Battle of Hastings and not November Fifth? The answer is that Sussex Bonfire Societies all want to join in with each other’s, so we need to stagger them over different dates. This also means that the emergency services and the pyrotechnic crews aren’t stretched too thin. And it does give us a really spectacular procession.

The Sussex Bonfire Council fixes the dates, but it’s good for us to have it in Hastings Week as we can tap into funding. And another tricky matter for the Hastings bonfire is that because it’s on the beach, we need to coincide with a low evening tide.

If you choose to go to a Sussex Bonfire please help us by following the simple rules. Remember they are traditional customs and important to us. We do them for ourselves and to remember the Sussex Martyrs and Gunpowder Plot. They are not just pretty firework displays.

Every element of the proceedings is important: the drumming, the banners, the superb costumes, the runners who light the East Hill beacon to start the procession, and all the lights and sights and sounds and smoke and smells, and the year’s mystery effigy that’s lit to start the bonfire itself. If anyone is waiting on Hastings beach asking when the fireworks are going to start, they just don’t get it: if you just want a free fireworks show, this isn’t the event for you. But the crowds that walk into town to support and enjoy the whole spectacle with all its traditions and rituals are part of the atmosphere and excitement on the night.

We ask that people don’t take risks. Please don’t pick up torches or bring your own fireworks. Be careful with your children, and don’t push them to the front, where it can be frightening. The air will be thick with smoke and ash so don’t wear anything you mind getting dirty.

Some Bonfires are now getting too crowded. Lewes Bonfire has asked people who don’t live there to stay away, because they don’t want to see it closed due to overcrowding. Luckily, Hastings can accommodate many, so it’s not a problem.

Also in: One Long Party