Guy Fawkes

In the USA, fireworks are a summer thing, but in the UK, November (Guy Fawkes day) is fireworks month. Unlike many areas of the US, fireworks are sold legally to the general public (they even had them in the local Tesco's), so you hear a fair amount of booming and banging in the weeks leading up to the day and before and after the day. I kind of like the idea of a holiday that is entirely given over to things that burn and blow up in interesting ways-- there is no flag waving, no historical lectures about this or that: it's just straight fireworks and bonfires, thank you very much.

The celebration in Cambridge was held on Midsummer Common, which in the north part of central Cambridge just south of the Cam. I was a little apprehensive about biking into the city at night through the big crowds of people, but in fact it wasn't a difficult ride at all, and the crowds were (for the most part) very well behaved. The display was lovely. It was a little foggy, but we were able to get close enough that we could see everything. Here is a short video from the outing.