Bonfire

This is the one event that I have wanted to make panoramas of ever since I realised that it might be possible. I have photographed Bonfire over the years but nothing conveys the sense of the occasion as well as a panorama. Please look at the links to the web sites that I have included as they set this tradition in context, especially with regard to the religious references.

Bonfire in Sussex is still taken very seriously as a cultural and traditional event which has been celebrated for many years. It almost certainly has its roots in older pagan traditions, but in its current form is obviously linked to the Gunpowder Plot and also to the burning of Protestant Martyrs in Sussex.

Bonfire has now widely become "Bonfire Night" and is mainly treated as an entertainment. Strict health and safety legislation has reduced most celebrations to an organized display with no relevance to tradition other than the display of a Guy.

Lewes, and The Cliffe Society in particular, keep to tradition and custom and maintain that this is not something put on for the general public and that visitors come at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety. On the 5th ( and it is always the 5th) the town is jammed with tens of thousands of people and can be very intimidating, however in nearly forty years of attending Bonfire I have never seen a serious injury.

Masked and costumed society members have the right to "drop" fireworks and the deafening explosions in the narrow streets leaves the ears ringing. I have been fascinated for many years by festivals that allow the participants licence to behave in a way that is usually frowned on and hope that this tradition continues.

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Europe / UK-England

Lat: 50° 52' 27.27" N
Long: 0° 1' 2.68" E

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

Canon EOS 5D, Nikkor 10.5mm FE, BoBracket, Manfrotto 676B monopod, radio trigger, PTGUI 4 Mac, PS, Cubic Convertor