Every year on the night of November 5, the skies over Britain explode with fireworks, huge bonfires are lit in parks and back gardens, and in some towns a straw figure is thrown on the flames. It is called Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night, and it marks one of the most famous failed plots in history: a plan to blow up the English Parliament and kill the king in 1605.
Britain is not the only place lighting up the sky this week. Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is also celebrated with lamps and fireworks, and in 2026 it falls just three days later, on November 8. Read when Diwali 2026 is and what it means.
More than four centuries later, the plot still shapes British traditions, a famous rhyme, an everyday English word and even a mask worn by protesters around the world. Here is the full story of the Gunpowder Plot, why the night is still celebrated, and how it is marked today.
What Was the Gunpowder Plot?
In 1605, England was ruled by King James I, who had become king two years earlier. Catholics in England faced heavy fines, restrictions and persecution for practising their faith. Many had hoped the new king would be more tolerant. When he was not, a small group of Catholic men led by Robert Catesby decided on a drastic plan.
Their idea was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, when the king, many members of his government and leading nobles would all be in one place. After the explosion, they planned to start an uprising and place the king's young daughter, Princess Elizabeth, on the throne as a Catholic-friendly monarch.
Who was Guy Fawkes?
Despite giving his name to the night, Guy Fawkes was not the leader. He was a soldier from York who had fought for Catholic Spain in the Netherlands and had experience with explosives. That made him the right man to guard and light the gunpowder. While abroad, he had used the Italian version of his name, Guido.
Thirty-six barrels under Parliament
The plotters rented a cellar, called an undercroft, that lay directly beneath the House of Lords. Over months they moved in 36 barrels of gunpowder, hidden under firewood and coal. Experts who have studied the plot have estimated that this amount would have been enough to destroy the building and cause enormous damage to the area around it.
How the Plot Was Discovered
On October 26, 1605, a Catholic nobleman named Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away from Parliament because it would "receive a terrible blow." Nobody knows for sure who wrote it, though many historians suspect one of the plotters, Francis Tresham, who was Monteagle's brother-in-law.
Monteagle passed the letter to the government. Around midnight on the night of November 4–5, 1605, officials searched the cellars beneath Parliament and found Guy Fawkes guarding the gunpowder, with matches and a fuse in his possession.
Fawkes was taken to the Tower of London and questioned on the king's orders, which allowed the use of torture. Over several days he gave up the names of his fellow conspirators.
What Happened to the Plotters?
When word spread that the plot had failed, the remaining conspirators fled to the Midlands. On November 8, they made a last stand at Holbeche House in Staffordshire. Catesby and several others were killed in a gunfight. The survivors were captured, tried for high treason in January 1606 and executed.
Guy Fawkes was executed on January 31, 1606. According to accounts of the day, he either jumped or fell from the gallows and broke his neck, sparing himself the rest of the brutal punishment for treason.
Why Is November 5 Still Celebrated?
On the very night the plot was uncovered, Londoners lit bonfires to celebrate the king's survival. A few months later Parliament passed the Observance of 5th November Act 1606, which required an annual day of thanksgiving with special church services. That law stayed in force until 1859, by which time bonfires and fireworks had become a deeply rooted folk tradition that no longer needed a law to keep it alive.
For many years the day also carried strong anti-Catholic feeling, and effigies of the Pope were sometimes burned. Over time that meaning faded, and for most people today Bonfire Night is simply a fun autumn night of fireworks, food and community.
"Remember, remember the fifth of November"
The night is famous for its traditional rhyme, which begins:
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
Generations of British children have learned these lines at school, and they are still quoted every year in the run-up to the night.
How Bonfire Night Is Celebrated Today
- Bonfires: Towns and villages build large bonfires, often on village greens or in parks.
- The "guy": A homemade effigy, traditionally made from old clothes stuffed with newspaper or straw, is placed on top of the bonfire. In the past, children wheeled their guy through the streets asking for "a penny for the guy" to buy fireworks.
- Fireworks displays: Most people now attend organized public displays, which are safer than home fireworks.
- Seasonal food: Toffee apples, baked potatoes cooked in the embers, sausages, parkin (a sticky ginger cake from northern England) and bonfire toffee.
- Sparklers: Children write their names in the air with sparklers, under adult supervision.
Lewes: Britain's wildest Bonfire Night
The town of Lewes in East Sussex hosts the biggest and most famous celebration. Several local bonfire societies hold torch-lit processions through the narrow streets, carry burning crosses in memory of 17 Protestant martyrs burned in the town in the 1550s, and set off huge fireworks displays. Tens of thousands of visitors usually arrive for the night.
Searching the cellars
The plot still shapes a royal tradition. Before each State Opening of Parliament, the Yeomen of the Guard, the monarch's ceremonial bodyguard, carry out a symbolic search of the Palace of Westminster's cellars. It is a nod to the night Guy Fawkes was caught.
Surprising Facts About Guy Fawkes Night
- The word "guy" comes from Guy Fawkes. The ragged effigies burned on bonfires were called "guys," and by the 1800s the word meant a strangely dressed person. In American English it gradually became a casual word for any man, and today "you guys" is used for everyone.
- It is not just a British event. Bonfire Night is also marked in parts of New Zealand, in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, and in some other former British colonies.
- The Guy Fawkes mask. The stylized smiling mask, popularized by the graphic novel and 2005 film V for Vendetta, became a symbol of protest movements and online activist groups in the 2000s and 2010s.
- Some schools hold their own displays. Including St Peter's School in York, which Guy Fawkes attended. It is often said the school traditionally does not burn a guy out of respect for its former pupil.
Bonfire Night Safety Tips
Every year hospitals see injuries from fireworks and sparklers. If you celebrate, go to an organized display when you can. If you use fireworks at home, follow the instructions, keep a bucket of water nearby, never return to a lit firework, and keep pets indoors with curtains closed. Sparklers get hot enough to cause serious burns, so give children gloves and a bucket of water for used sparklers.
Curious why the sky looks the way it does during all those fireworks? Read why the sky is blue for the simple science of light and color.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do the British celebrate Guy Fawkes Night?
To remember the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes and other conspirators tried to blow up the House of Lords and kill King James I.
When is Bonfire Night 2026?
Bonfire Night is on November 5. In 2026 that is a Thursday, so many towns hold public displays on the weekend before or after.
Was Guy Fawkes the leader of the Gunpowder Plot?
No. The leader was Robert Catesby. Fawkes was the explosives expert who guarded the gunpowder and was caught in the cellar.
How much gunpowder did Guy Fawkes have?
The plotters placed 36 barrels of gunpowder in the undercroft beneath the House of Lords.
Why do people burn a guy on the bonfire?
The effigy, or "guy," represents Guy Fawkes. Burning it on the bonfire is a tradition dating back centuries, though today it is a folk custom rather than a statement.
Is Bonfire Night related to Halloween?
No, but both draw on old autumn bonfire traditions. Halloween comes from the Celtic festival of Samhain, which also involved bonfires. See our guide to the history of Halloween.
Final Thoughts
Guy Fawkes Night began as a celebration that a king had survived an assassination plot, and it was once a day of fierce religious division. Today it is mostly a cozy, noisy autumn tradition of bonfires, fireworks and toffee apples. Yet every time someone says "you guys," quotes "remember, remember," or watches the cellars of Parliament being searched, the shadow of that November night in 1605 is still there.
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