It’s that time of year again where sparklers fizzle and fireworks squeal – November! Every year, Guy Fawkes night is celebrated throughout the UK on November 5th. Bonfires and fireworks are set off sending spectacular, explosive colours into the atmosphere.

Worthing pier, West Sussex, celebrates this night with a firework display. This year, spectacular bursts of crimson and green were released into the sky before us, leaving the public in amazement at the fireworks before them. A member of the public who attended the firework display mentions that “The Worthing Pier fireworks were as good as ever this year and huge crowds gathered along the promenade and on the beach, despite the cold temperatures” and then goes on to explain “I was amongst the many photographers recording the event from the shoreline”. She claimed to be “intrigued by the large number of drones hanging in the night air gathering airborne footage of the spectacle.”

But, where does this event originate from? The origins of “Guy Fawkes night” or “Bonfire night” are from the failure of Guy Fawke’s plot to blow up Parliament with gunpowder, on November 5th 1605. On the night that this happened, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of King James, the first Stuart king of England. Quite often, effigies of Guy Fawkes are burned to the ground to remember the event.

“Remember, remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder treason and plot. We see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot! Guy Fawkes, guy, t’was his intent to blow up king and parliament. Three score barrels were laid below to prove old England’s overthrow. By God’s mercy he was catch’d with a darkened lantern and burning match. So, holler boys, holler boys, God save the king. And what shall we do with him? Burn him!”