Home from Home | Bonfire Night in Hong Kong just wasn’t the same for all that I tried. Being back in the UK means a proper celebration of plotter Guy Fawkes’ downfall
- Every November 5 in Britain, bonfires, torch-lit processions and fireworks mark the foiling of Catholic Guy Fawkes’ 1605 plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament
- It was the one British celebration I missed in my time in Hong Kong, which has plenty of colourful festivals of its own to mark the seasons
Hong Kong’s colourful festivals, from the lion dances of Lunar New Year to moon-gazing at mid-autumn, mark the passing of the seasons.
I very much enjoyed them when living in the city. But there was one British festival that I missed while residing in Hong Kong. Guy Fawkes Night was a source of great excitement during my childhood in London, matched only by Christmas and my birthday.
This November 5, as there is every year, there will be celebrations in Britain, with spectacular firework displays, torch-lit processions and bonfires. It is a bit like the Tai Hang Fire Dragon meets the national day fireworks.
The festival, commemorating the failed attempt by Catholic conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, is especially popular in Kent, southern England, where I live.
I tried to get into the spirit each November 5 during my 28 years in Hong Kong, but it didn’t really work. I would re-read the history of the Gunpowder Plot and cook “traditional” bonfire night food, such as jacket potatoes, sausages and beans.
Sometimes the Disney fireworks across the water happily coincided. And once, I even managed to light a bonfire while living in Mui Wo, Lantau.
