Remember, remember the fifth of November

November 1, 2006 8:52 AM

Does anyone know of Guy Fawkes (aka Bonfire Night) celebrations going on in the D.C. metro area this weekend? Or, alternatively, any suggestions for parks or other places where my friends and I could (legally) make a small bonfire of our own? Thanks!
posted by hazelshade to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Here's one.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:27 AM on November 1, 2006

Response by poster: Oh my God, MrMoonPie, that's perfect. Thanks so much.
posted by hazelshade at 9:33 AM on November 1, 2006

Response by poster: Just to add, if anyone knows of things going on that are closer to D.C. than Baltimore, post away -- we might need alternatives to MrMoonPie's suggestion because it's fairly far away from us, near BWI. Thanks!
posted by hazelshade at 9:40 AM on November 1, 2006

Wow, I didn't know that they would be any American Bonfire societies. The States aren't exactly known for their loyalty to the Crown.
posted by jb at 2:56 PM on November 1, 2006

Well, neither was Guy Fawkes.
posted by Rash at 4:07 PM on November 1, 2006

But come to think of it, in Harpo Marx' autobiography he describes big bonfires in the streets on the evening of Election Day, growing up in Manhattan. Perhaps that early November custom was spun off from Guy Fawkes Day.
posted by Rash at 4:15 PM on November 1, 2006

Curious that it's in Maryland, a state with a long tradition of Catholic settlement.
posted by holgate at 5:02 PM on November 1, 2006

Well, neither was Guy Fawkes.
posted by Rash at 12:07 AM GMT on November 2 [+] [!]

That's why loyal subjects of the crown burn him in effigy.
posted by jb at 1:48 PM on November 2, 2006