It is a festival in the United Kingdom that is celebrated every year on November 5 with bonfires and that, in part, reminds us a little of the fallas of Valencia. There is also burning of dolls, although in this case, only with one protagonist: Guy Fawkes. You want to know Why Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated: history and tradition of this English celebration? Let’s see it.
Origin of Guy Fawkes night
You have to move to the year 1605 to learn the details of this fiery tradition. And never better said about burning, because the protagonist is fire. However, unlike other celebrations, where fire has a purifying effect and bonfires are used to expel the bad and try to attract good wishes, in the case of the guy fawkes party it is only about remembering a historical event and condemning facts that could have caused misfortune in United Kingdom.
The origin of guy fawkes night It has a name and a clear cause: the failed Gunpowder Treason. In an England where they were experiencing the breakdown of the Catholic order, after the death of Queen Elizabeth, a Catholic, and the succession to the throne of the new monarch James I of England, a declared Protestant who wanted to establish Protestantism and thus end years of Catholicism . However, the Catholic side was not willing to assume that change of ideology for the country, and decided to take action on the matter.
A group of Catholic rebels devised an attack against the king, in which they would blow up the seat of Parliament, taking the day of the inauguration of the political year as the date for it. The plan was to place explosives under the Chamber. And the one chosen to denote these explosives was a certain Guy Fawkes.
However, a letter. Anonymous warning of the plans, alerted the king and Guido Fawkes was caught red-handed and arrested. This was on November 5, 1606. As a reminder of what happened and, above all, what could have been avoided, every year the English gather to celebrate that Parliament escaped disgrace and was able to continue standing.
How is Guy Fawkes Night celebrated?
In the guy fawkes nightare elaborated dolls with the face of Guy Fawkes that are burned (That’s why we said at the beginning that it reminds us a bit of the Valencian Fallas). In addition, they are released fireworks flying around the Palace of Westminsterwhere the attacks were planned.
In addition to fire there are also special dishes to celebrate this day. Well, a menu is prepared with roast potatoes, sausages and mash, as well as caramel apples.
Not only around the British Parliament does the party take place, but also in Edinburgh and even in other places that, at that time, were English colonies, although no longer with the ideological spirit of that time, but converted into a party, mainly , among the young people who gather to enjoy the Bonfire night or night of the bonfires.
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