Hastings Bonfire Night

Part of the Bonfire Night procession

 

 

We had been told that Hastings Bonfire Night was something not to be missed, so we gave up the original plan to go to Eastbourne for the Met Opera direct transmission and stayed put.  Indications of what was afoot were already apparent the previous evening, when I was giving the dogs their late walk down All Saints Street: figures in top hats and feathers, frock coats and boots, looking like undertakers out of a Hammer Horror film, were wandering home after final preparations. 

 

The event fully lived up to expectations: just after 7 pm the beacon was lit on the top of East Hill, and a procession started, led by drummers, of Sussex bonfire societies and various community groups, in costumes varying from the Hastings stripy sweaters as above, topped with the top hats and feathers, through convict dress with arrows on (Battle Bonfire Society) to one group who looked fresh from the Venice Carnival - I'd got a bit confused by this stage about who was who.  Each group had at its head a standard-bearer, with a shield lit by three flaming torches.  There were of course additional torches, as you can see from the photo: it was a miracle that the overhanging half-timbered houses were not set alight.

 

At 9 pm a huge bonfire was lit on the beach, and then there was a fine firework display, watched by thousands of people.  I don't usually like crowds but this was a good-tempered lot enjoying themselves.  Things were a little different by the end of the evening, when the dogs were given their final walk: a number of folk in the streets were very much the worse for wear, finding their way home with some difficulty. 

 

The atmosphere was so pagan that I found it difficult to believe that it stemmed only from the celebrations in 1605 following the failure of the Gunpowder Plot.  The proximity of the autumn equinox made me think that there might be a link with pagan equinoctial rites involving fire.  There doesn't seem, however, to be any historical basis for this.  The truth is, I suspect, that Hastings folk seize any opportunity to dress up in costume and have a drink or two.

 

Antony Mair