For 364 days of the year, Lewes is an ordinary historic market town a few miles from Brighton in East Sussex where life plays out amid pretty cobblestone streets. For the remaining one day, everything changes when the routine of normal life gives way to a raucous festival of epic proportions.
On 5 November, this ancient town huddled in the South Downs National Park not far from Brighton becomes unlikely setting for Lewes Bonfire Night. It’s the largest bonfire-night celebration in Britain, unrivalled by any other events other than perhaps Mardi Gras in Rio and New Orleans.
local tips on enjoying Lewes Bonfire Night
I live in Brighton, the creative city on england’s south coast for 20-plus years a few miles from Lewes, and have experienced Lewes Bonfire Night several times.
So I thought it high time I share some honest local tips on what goes on at the Lewes Bonfire Night, the highs and lows of the event and how best to enjoy it.
Insider tip: This is not a night for the faint hearted. You must be prepared for long waits, heavy crowds, loud noise and lots of smoke. If you’re happy with this, read on to find out how to make the most of a Bonfire Night visit to Lewes.
At 8pm on 5 November, the drums start beating, the bagpipes playing and people from 30 bonfire societies across Sussex in historical costumes parade through town carrying giant political effigies and fiery crosses, culminating at a huge bonfire site outside the town. It’s a 300-year-old riotous, raucous spectacle some 30,000 people from all around the country come to witness.
Lewes Bonfire Night History lesson
Bonfire night celebrations around Britain stem from the day Guy Fawkes and his coconspirators were caught trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. In Lewes, they also come from sense of political and religious tension that’s existed in Lewes and Sussex for hundreds of years.
This started in the 1500s when Queen Mary Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VIII, who sought to reintroduce Catholicism instructed those protestants be executed. A total of 288 Protestants around the country were executed simply for their beliefs – 17 of them were in Lewes.
During each Lewes Bonfire Night parade, several members hold 17 three-metre-high burning crosses in the air during the procession to represent these 17 Protestant martyrs who were burned at the stake in Lewes in the 16th century.
What happens at Lewes Bonfire Night?
Lewes Bonfire Night always takes place on 5 November. If it falls on a Sunday, the event is moved to Saturday.
The town starts to prepare for the festivities on the afternoon of 5 November when shopkeepers board up their windows, and the roads close to traffic.
At this point, it is impossible to get into Lewes. Big media send out messages to the rest of the country to avoid Lewes at all costs.
The festivities start at 5.45pm on Cliffe High Street with a bizarre event called a barrel run. This involves people running down the street pushing flaming barrels of tar into the river Ouse, a reminder of the time government officials read the town the Riot Act in a bid to get it to tone down its festivities. No chance!
The grand parade through town starts at 8pm and the bonfires are lit at 9.30, but the full festivities don’t start until later, once everyone’s arrived. People party until about 1 or 2am in the streets but mostly at local pubs.
About the Lewes Bonfire Societies
Little do most visitors to Lewes know what goes on behind closed cottage doors. The town is home to at least six bonfire societies – there are over 30 around Sussex – of which most locals are members.
Months are spent preparing for the event which involves creating giant effigies of the latest reviled political villains. Each society competes with the other to create the biggest and best, each kept strictly under wraps until the big reveal at the grand parade down Lewes High Street on 5 November.
Members of bonfire societies dress up, some in a historical dress like masked Vikings, African-style Zulu warriors in headdresses, Elizabethan ladies in huge, hooped Tudor skirts, and suffragettes demanding Votes for Women.
Others dress like smugglers in white trousers, black boots and red hats or bandanas, and stripy jumpers in different colours representing individual societies. The town’s oldest societies are Cliff in black and white stripes, and Lewes Borough, in blue and white.
How can I get to Lewes for Bonfire Night?
The best way to enjoy the Lewes Bonfire Night festivities is to stay for a night, or arrive by public transport early on the day – by 10am. Public transport links like buses and trains are cancelled from the early evening to control the crowds. From late afternoon, trains don’t stop at Lewes or the surrounding villages until the next morning.
Driving to Lewes will be impossible. Even if you get here early and find a parking space, roads in and out close in the afternoon. So, you wouldn’t get your car back until everything’s finished and the roads open again. Also, parking restrictions are put in place for most of the town around noon, and roads into Lewes are closed entirely from 4.45pm.
Will I get a room in Lewes for Bonfire Night?
To guarantee you’ll have somewhere to stay in Lewes, it’s best to plan as far ahead as you can when it comes to Lewes Bonfire Night. Rooms get booked far in advance – up to a year ahead. Lewes is only small and has a handful of B&Bs and hotels, which will cost more than usual if you plan to stay on the night of the action.
If you’re willing to stay further out of Lewes in the surrounding countryside, there are a few options on Airbnb. Staying in Brighton or villages surrounding it is also an option, if you’re happy to walk – it takes about three hours from Brighton – cycle, or get a taxi in.
Can I visit Lewes Bonfire Night in a day trip?
You can visit Lewes Bonfire night on a day trip from Brighton or London, but you’d miss seeing the bonfire societies gathering at the end of the night. Plus, with so many travel restrictions, it might dampen your evening having to think about getting back.
Insider tips on surviving Lewes Bonfire Night
The biggest tip I can give is to arrive as early as you possibly can. There are lots of things to do in Lewes which is packed with independent shops to browse and pubs for lunch as you wait for the festivities to begin.
Don’t worry about the weather, but dress in warm and waterproof clothes. Be prepared: there are hardly any toilet facilities, so don’t drink too much otherwise you’ll have to pee in a side street which will annoy the locals.
If you want to get into a pub, you’ll need a ticket. Some sell these in advance, others on the door. Check ahead which ones are doing what.
Come armed with cash and coins: donation boxes for charity are passed around during the parade and, if you haven’t bought an advance ticket to a bonfire society celebration, you can sometimes buy these at the entry gate.
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