LEWES Bonfire is a tradition famous throughout the South for always going off with a bang.

Steeped in age-old rivalries, the spectacular celebrations are considered to be more of a way of life than just an annual event to the Lewes townsfolk as the five main bonfire societies battle to be the best.

Behind the scenes, the event takes months of planning with fanatical volunteers helping to ensure the bonfire festivities are the most stunning the crowd has ever seen.

The centrepiece of each society's show is a tableau, a giant wildly-decorated carnival float, packed with fireworks, which is paraded through the streets.

Each one has a topical theme and they are made in a secret location so this theme is not revealed to the public until the night of the bonfire, which regularly attracts crowds of up to 70,000 revellers. Traditionally effigies of public figures, judged to be "enemies of bonfire", are burnt on the night, with politicians and historical figures going up in flames to cheers from the audience.

Members of the societies parade the streets carrying torches. Flaming tar barrels are still dragged through the narrow streets and blood-thirsty bonfire prayers are chanted.

But there is a more serious side to the tradition. Every year members of each society march to the War Memorial to lay a wreath and stand in silence.

The first elaborate anti-Pope celebrations in the town took place in 1679, the year an effigy of the Pope was burnt on the bonfire as a demonstration of Protestant loyalty to monarch and country.

But it was not until the 1770s that the custom began to attract notoriety mainly because of its disturbances and arrests, which threatened the future of the event. However the burning passion behind the celebrations could not be thwarted and only the war years, a typhoid outbreak in 1874, and floods in 1960 have so far managed to scupper the event.

Lewes made its Guy Fawkes celebrations official in 1858 when The Cliffe and Town societies formed. The Town Society changed its name to the Lewes Borough Bonfire Society shortly afterwards and a debate has raged since about which of the two is the oldest group.

But all the societies joined forces back in 1992 when the bonfire's traditions were threatened by an attempt to tighten safety rules. Drawn up by police, district councillors and emergency services, the new code wanted to ban alcohol, put up crowd barriers and stop societies from lighting the set-piece displays while floats are being towed along the road.

Revenge

They were especially angry because they were not consulted about the changes, although they eventually accepted the recommendations. However they got their revenge by making effigies of the Lewes councillors and police who imposed the ban and hoisted them up on sharpened poles.

This year's event promises to be as spectacular as in previous years, although organisers and the police are stressing the bonfire celebration can only cope with local people and are asking anyone not from Lewes to stay away for safety reasons. They are worried because November 5 falls on a Friday this year, so even more people may try and come along.

Jeff Burrow, Pioneer Chief of the Lewes Borough Bonfire Society, promised the event would be as impressive as ever.

He added: "It depends on the weather of course, we don't want it to rain on our costumes."

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