Remember The 5th

"Remember, remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason, why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot."

In the United Kingdom the 5th of November is known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night and is meant to commemorate the events that took place in England on 5 November 1605 when Guy Fawkes was arrested for trying to blow up the Parliament buildings in London. After that, people began lighting bonfires to celebrate the King surviving the attack. I hadn't really heard of Bonfire Night until I taught in Italy as they learned about British culture and I saw in their notebooks there was a holiday called Bonfire Night. I have also watched the film, "V For Vendetta" which uses the famous Guy Fawkes mask. 

There were firework displays all throughout London on 5th November but the three of us decided to head downtown to the Parliament buildings to see if there were any celebrations happening there. As soon as we got off the tube we saw crowds of people wearing Guy Fawkes masks and a large protest in Parliament square beside Big Ben. Luckily there were police officers everywhere - I had never seen so many bobbies (cops) in one area. They had squared the protesters into one area and had barriers to block them in. The protest was organized by a group called Anonymous which invited everyone to take part in a "Million Mask March." I am really not sure what exactly they were protesting about, as some people were fighting against corrupt politicians, while others had signs for a world without capitalism and some were chanting about bringing the arts back in schools. Violence broke out between protesters and police officers which is about when we decided we should leave. Later on we found out Russell Brand made an appearance to try and keep the peace.

Overall, I find it a very strange holiday to celebrate and still don't fully understand it, although it was interesting to witness. 

Guy Fawkes mask made famous from "V For Vendetta"

After the violence broke out at the protest we went for a walk and saw some beautiful nights