Guy Fawkes Night 2025, 2026 and 2027 - Dates and origins

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Guy Fawkes Night dates

Guy Fawkes Night, also known as ‘Bonfire Night’, is scheduled for the following dates:

• Wednesday, 5th November 2025
• Thursday, 5th November 2026
• Friday, 5th November 2027

In the United Kingdom, it always falls on 5 November, commemorating the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Public celebrations and firework displays, however, are sometimes held on the nearest weekend to 5 November.

Guy Fawkes Night origins

The origins of Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night, are rooted in one of the most notorious conspiracies in English history: the famous Gunpowder Plot of 1605¹, when Guy Fawkes and fellow Catholic conspirators² attempted to blow up Parliament and assassinate James I and VI of England³.

The period prior to this was witness to deep religious tensions in England. After years of conflict between Protestants and Catholics⁴, the accession of James I (in 1603) created a brief sense of hope among English Catholics that they might see an end to the religious persecution⁵ they had been subjected to for so long. However, when those hopes were dashed, and James continued enforcing strict anti-Catholic laws, a small group of disillusioned Catholic conspirators decided to take drastic action.

Contrary to popular belief, the gunpowder plot was actually orchestrated by Robert Catesby⁶. He wanted to assassinate King James I and the members of Parliament by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening⁷ planned for 5 November 1605. This was intended not only to eliminate the Protestant leadership but also to ignite a wider uprising that would restore a Catholic monarch to the English throne.

Guy (Guido) Fawkes⁸⁹, a soldier with experience handling explosives from his time fighting in the Netherlands, was recruited to manage and set the fuse for the 36 barrels of gunpowder hidden in a cellar beneath the House of Lords¹⁰. Using modern methods, experts from the Centre for Explosion Studies, at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, estimated that severe structural damage would have been sustained by buildings up to half a kilometre away. The explosion would have destroyed Westminster Abbey and undermined buildings as far away as Whitehall, the site of Downing Street today¹¹.

The conspiracy, however, began to unravel when an anonymous letter¹² warning a Catholic nobleman to stay away from Parliament aroused suspicion. Authorities carried out a search of the buildings, and in the early hours of 5 November, Guy Fawkes¹³ was discovered guarding the explosive stockpile. His arrest led to the capture or death of the other conspirators, and the plot was quashed before it could be carried out. Fawkes and several others were later executed for treason¹⁴.

In the immediate aftermath, the government encouraged public celebrations to give thanks for the king’s survival. On 5 November 1605, people across London lit bonfires to mark the foiling of the plot. Soon after, Parliament passed the Observance of 5th November Act (1606)¹⁵, also known as the ‘Thanksgiving Act,’ which made the day an annual national commemoration.

Guy Fawkes Night celebrations

Today, Guy Fawkes Night remains a uniquely British celebration. Though its religious and political origins have largely faded from public consciousness, the event persists as a blend of historical memory, folklore, and communal festivity, marked by bonfires, fireworks, and the enduring reminder of a plot that almost changed the course of British history. Up until 1959, it was actually illegal to *not *celebrate Bonfire Night in Britain!¹⁶

Celebrated across the United Kingdom every year on 5^th November, modern festivities centre around bonfires, firework displays, and community gatherings.

Bonfires & Fireworks

Firework displays are often the centrepiece of 5^th November celebrations. Alongside the fireworks, communities often build large bonfires.

In the 1950s and 1960s¹⁷, Bonfire Night was a real hands-on celebration. Family bonfire parties and get-togethers with neighbours were commonplace. It wasn’t uncommon for bonfires to spring up on the streets, particularly on bombsites, and people also used fireworks to cause a nuisance in back alleys and city streets¹⁸.

Families would start to collect wood for their bonfire at the end of summer. Trees and bushes in the garden would be trimmed and the branches piled up ready for the big day. Any old planks of wood, doors or other combustibles would also be added to the heap. It wasn’t uncommon for bonfires to spring up on the streets, particularly on bombsites, and people were used fireworks to cause a nuisance in back alleys and city streets.

Fireworks would appear in the shops a couple of weeks before the event. There were selection boxes of fireworks (the most popular brand were Standard Fireworks¹⁹) or you could buy rockets and larger fireworks one by one. Catherine Wheels and Roman Candles were particularly popular, as were sparklers and bangers. Bangers²⁰ were small tubes of gunpowder that after lighting, were thrown on the ground to explode with a loud bang, not unlike a miniature stick of dynamite! These were banned from sale in the UK in the 1990s due to health and safety reasons.

Fireworks and bonfires continue to this day, although nowadays people are more likely to attend organised public displays which usually take place in most towns and villages in large open spaces. According to Mintel, in 2017 alone, £155m was spent on fireworks for the celebrations²¹.

Guy Fawkes Effigy

Typically, a ‘Guy Fawkes’ effigy (or ‘Guy’)²² made of straw and dressed in old clothes is tossed on to the bonfire prior to lighting, although in more recent years effigies of more contemporary political figures are also used.

Penny for the Guy

Traditionally, a couple of weeks prior to being thrown on the bonfire, children would carry these effigies, called ‘Guys²³,’ through the streets and ask passersby for ‘a penny for the guy,’ often reciting rhymes associated with the occasion, the best known of which dates from the 18th century:

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot….²⁴

The money raised by the children would then be spent on bangers and other fireworks. However, following new laws in 2004, it is now an offence to supply fireworks to anyone under the age of 18²⁵. As a result, this practice is less common nowadays, although not unheard of for children looking to make a bit of money to buy sweets and other goodies.

Food

There are many foods associated with Guy Fawkes night celebrations. Here are a few of the most popular²⁶.

• Yorkshire Parkin – a strongly-spiced sticky gingerbread-cum-cake flavoured with treacle and dark brown sugar²⁷. As the name suggests, it is synonymous with the county of Yorkshire.
• Treacle (Bonfire) Toffee – A hard brittle toffee made from black treacle, butter, and sugar²⁸.
• Toffee Apples – Caramel coated apples.²⁹ The most common sugar coating is made from white or brown sugar, corn syrup, water, cinnamon and red food colouring.
• Jacket Potatoes³⁰ – potatoes wrapped in aluminium foil and gingerly placed in the white-hot embers of the bonfire to cook for an hour or so, before being fished out and eaten with lots of melted butter. 
• Mulled cider or wine³¹ – designed to keep the adults warm and cheerful on a chilly November evening. Spiced with cinnamon and orange.