Guy Fawkes Day 2009

Fireworks and bonfire from the Guy Fawkes Day 2009 at Wimbledon Park.

Thames Festival 2009

I spent most of my waking hours this weekend at the 2009 Thames Festival. It was a huge collection of dances, performances and food followed by a night carnival and fireworks (my favorite!). Here are some of my favorite photos from the weekend (not in any order...):

The Night Carnival is special because many of the dancers and floats cover themselves in bright lights. The dancers were a lot like the Notting Hill Carnival (some floats were even the same), but the lights added a nice nighttime effect.
Tamryn found an excellent spot for us to take photographs - with the National Theatre, The London Eye and Big Ben all in the background. How perfect.
They also shut down most of Southwark Bridge and turned it into a big eating festival - tables and chairs were set up, as well as light bulbs and banners. It was a lovely view of St. Paul's Cathedral.
Here the woman had strung her dress with lights - she was spinning, hence the blur.
Here is another attempt at "bokeh", this time with the lights of London Eye.
A man watches the Dutch dancers in front of Tower Bridge.
Another bokeh with hearts!
Korean dancers perform in front of City Hall.
More fireworks!
Another Korean dancer! (I told you these were not in order...)
And finally, my favorite picture of the fireworks. It was worth standing outside, in the cold, in a corner that smelt like pee to be able to have a view like this. Well worth it.

As a side, the Olympus people are running a competition for a photo of the carnival. I've posted here what I think are my best photos, and I'd like to submit one to the contest. The winner wins a pretty kick ass camera (Olympus... but still, I'd take it). But I'm not sure which one to choose! And I want your help! Which one is your favorite?

Guy Fawkes Day

So, last night was the famed Guy Fawkes Day here in London. The basic background on this story is:

"After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.

A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.

But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts.

One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.

Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.

The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving.

As years progressed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.

Soon, people began placing effigies onto bonfires, and fireworks were added to the celebrations. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and sometimes those of the Pope, graced the pyres. Still today, some communities throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire (and even those of a contemporary politician or two), although the gesture is seen by most as a quirky tradition, rather than an expression of hostility towards the Pope."

That's the long version. Generally the version I go by is "Guy tried to blow up parliament, guy gets caught, people light bonfires to celebrate king, people today use anything as an excuse to light big fires and explode fireworks."

But either way, it works.

And yes, I rushed out to the balcony with my camera and snapped photos. Here are some of my favorite:

Not too shabby, hey? I think we had a pretty good view from our balcony, and we got to come inside when it started raining. Muuuch better.

I also took a video of the finale fireworks, which you can see here: