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Guy Fawkes Night — also called Bonfire Night — is observed in the United Kingdom on 5 November every year. It marks the failure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, and is celebrated with bonfires, fireworks and burning effigies of Fawkes (“the Guy”).
When is Bonfire Night?
Guy Fawkes Night is always on 5 November — the anniversary of the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. Many public bonfire and fireworks displays in the UK are held on the closest weekend if the 5th is a weekday.
| Year | Date | Day of week |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | November 5, 2026 | Thursday |
| 2027 | November 5, 2027 | Friday |
| 2028 | November 5, 2028 | Sunday |
| 2029 | November 5, 2029 | Monday |
| 2030 | November 5, 2030 | Tuesday |
History & origin
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a conspiracy by a group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby of Warwickshire, to assassinate the Protestant King James I (also James VI of Scotland) at the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605. Their goal was to install James’s 9-year-old daughter Elizabeth as a Catholic head of state.
The conspirators rented a cellar directly beneath the House of Lords and concealed 36 barrels of gunpowder there. Guy Fawkes — a Yorkshireman with military experience fighting for Catholic Spain in the Low Countries — was assigned to guard the cache and light the fuse.
An anonymous letter to Lord Monteagle on 26 October 1605 warned him to stay away from Parliament. The letter was passed to the king’s spymaster Robert Cecil. A search of the cellars in the early hours of 5 November discovered Fawkes with the gunpowder; he was arrested, tortured in the Tower of London, and named the other conspirators. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered but jumped from the scaffold and broke his neck on 31 January 1606.
Parliament passed the Observance of 5th November Act 1605 (also known as the “Thanksgiving Act”), making 5 November an annual day of thanksgiving for the deliverance of the king. The act was repealed in 1859, but the tradition of bonfires, effigies and fireworks has continued every year since.
Observance & traditions
- Bonfires & effigies (“the Guy”) — communities build bonfires and burn a straw-and-clothes effigy of Guy Fawkes on top. Children traditionally collected coins from passers-by with the call “Penny for the Guy”.
- Fireworks displays — major civic events draw tens of thousands; Lewes (East Sussex) holds the most famous parade, with rival Bonfire Societies dressed in costume.
- Traditional foods — bonfire toffee (a hard treacle toffee), parkin (a sticky oat-and-treacle gingerbread cake from Yorkshire and Lancashire), toffee apples, baked potatoes, and sausages cooked over the fire.
- The Cellars search — the Yeomen of the Guard still ceremonially search the cellars beneath the Houses of Parliament before every State Opening, in continuous tradition since 1605.
- The mask — the stylised Guy Fawkes mask, designed by David Lloyd for V for Vendetta, has become an international symbol of anti-establishment protest since the late 2000s.
Sources & references
- UK Parliament — The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 — official archive of plot documents and timeline.
- Encyclopædia Britannica — Gunpowder Plot — historical overview.
- The National Archives (UK) — original interrogation transcripts and the Monteagle letter.
- Antonia Fraser, The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605 (1996) — standard modern history.
FAQs
No — the plot was led by Robert Catesby, a Warwickshire Catholic gentleman. Guy Fawkes (also known as Guido Fawkes) was the explosives expert recruited for his military experience fighting for Catholic Spain. He was assigned to guard the 36 barrels of gunpowder concealed beneath the House of Lords, which is why he was the conspirator arrested at the scene on 5 November 1605.
England’s Catholic minority had hoped that the Protestant King James I (who succeeded Elizabeth I in 1603) would relax the penal laws against them. When James continued the harsh restrictions, Catesby’s group planned to assassinate James, his ministers, and Protestant peers at the State Opening of Parliament, then install James’s 9-year-old daughter Elizabeth as a Catholic head of state.
An anonymous letter delivered to Lord Monteagle on 26 October 1605 warned him to stay away from the State Opening. The letter was passed to the king’s secretary of state, Robert Cecil. A search of the cellars beneath the House of Lords just after midnight on 5 November 1605 uncovered Fawkes guarding the gunpowder stash. Fawkes was tortured over several days and gave up his fellow conspirators.
The traditional Bonfire Night rhyme begins: “Remember, remember the fifth of November / Gunpowder, treason and plot / I see no reason why gunpowder treason / Should ever be forgot.” Its origins date to the 17th century; the earliest known version was printed in 1742. Many later versions add explicitly anti-Catholic verses that are now rarely sung.
The stylised mask was designed by illustrator David Lloyd for the 1982 graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore. Following the 2006 film adaptation, the hacktivist collective Anonymous adopted it, and it spread to the Occupy movement (2011) and various global protests as a symbol of resistance to authority. The mask is now produced in the millions; Warner Bros. holds the trademark.
The original Old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire in 1834; the current Palace of Westminster was rebuilt on the same site. The actual cellar where Fawkes was discovered no longer exists. However, the Yeomen of the Guard still ceremonially search the cellars of the Houses of Parliament before each State Opening — a tradition dating directly to the 1605 plot.