Last night was possibly the greatest firework display I have ever seen. It definitely held up against Bastille Day in Paris. I'd spent the day in Brighton, shopping and watching The Matrix: Revolutions. When I got into Lewes I had hoped to meet Marko and Emma but they had stayed home sick. As I wandered around by myself I spotted a familiar face in the crowd Robert Hawke's older brother (Martin), but as I couldn't remember the guy's first name at the time I didn't really feel I could go over and say hello. After the individual processions

Cliffe Bonfire Society

went up the high street I watched the barrel running (video 5.3mb) from the start line on the bridge. To start the run a banger is set loose on the bridge and when this thing exploded it was like being thumped in the chest.

Rolling a barrel of fire

   I was heading down to The Snowdrop when another familiar face appeared and Luke Reynolds came over to see me. He was at Ringmer College with me for 5 years and I lost contact with him upon moving to NZ. After a little chat he directed me to Alice Briant's house where she and Andy were about to go watch the big procession (They came out to NZ briefly in 2002). So I talked to them for a moment or two and carried on to the pub where I found Jo talking to Catherine Mason another girl from Ringmer College.
   Jo, Kahina, Steve and I watched the procession (video 4.1mb) come down the hill from outside Boots,

The smugglers costumes

and boy was it a long procession. I'd seen a number of burning crosses being paraded up and down that night. There were 17 in fact, and they symbolise the 17 martyrs that were burned at the stake in Lewes during the reformation. There were a number of bonfire societies and a larger number of themes to the costumes. The traditional smugglers, various tudor types (including a brilliant Henry VIII), vikings, Red Indians, Indian indians, doctors and nurses, war veterans and more. The costumes were all brilliant and everyone there was having a great time.
   On the walk toward the Waterloo display behind Tescos (a super market I used to work at) I bumped into Russell Hook and his fiancé Hannah who I later got a lift home with because Hannah lives not far from Jo and Jed's house. I passed a girl on the street whom I recognised but it wasn't until I was washed away with the crowd that I figured out who she was and it was too hard to go back that way so I carried on to the park where the free display was going to be held. The other societies hold their displays in more remote areas and charge for tickets, hence Waterloo is the best attended one. The bonfire was huge and standing 100m away was close enough for me. While standing there waiting to find Russell again I bumped into Gemma Davies and her mum Sue, which is especially weird because I had just emailed them the day before suggesting I might find them in the masses of Lewes. I found Russell and co and the fireworks started. Launching from a base modelled to look like the Simpsons sitting around an armchair the display was very impressive. Every now and again pausing only to launch renewed and bigger than the round before. The explosives themselves were excellent and we were so close that many of the complicated ones that launched a bundle of little sparks with their own jets, they shot well passed us. However all that looking up gave me a sore neck. The final big-one was a worthy show stopper that left huge golden arches across the sky and at the end of each little packets were falling and giving off golden glitter. Amazing.