So yesterday, Guy Fawkes Day (remember remember the 5th of November?), started off relatively calm. It was my first day volunteering at the Oxfam store on North Street, and I had a lot of fun! I spent most of the time sorting through donated clothes, working in the stockroom, and straightening things on the shop floor. All the other volunteers I met were really nice. There is only one downfall: I’m afraid working in the shop will make me want to buy all kinds of things!
Then I headed off to Lewes with Laura, Brenden, and Sarah to celebrate Guy Fawkes day and see the famous bonfires/parade. It is known as one of the largest celebrations in the UK! I think it is a little ironic that England celebrates the unsuccessful gunpowder plot with fireworks and bonfires, but that is beside the point! We arrived in Lewes a little before dark and were able to wander around and see Lewes castle. Afterwards we went to the High Street to wait for the parade.
Once things got started it quickly become pretty hectic! The different bonfire societies paraded up and down the street carrying torches and dressed in various costumes – the most interesting ones were the Zulu warriors, I thought. What amazed me was the fact that small kids were also in the parade, and many of them were also carrying torches! I saw several young children in strollers who had their own torches, which was a little scary! Take a look here if you want to see some of my photos from the night. A few highlights were: the guy dressed as an American Indian whose headdress caught on fire, the huge effigy of Guy Fawkes, a sign that was lit up and said ‘lest we forget,’ one guy dressed as Elvis, and one person dressed as some strange animal…
All in all it was a fun night, though the crowds were enormous and some of the fireworks set off in the street were downright scary! I highly recommend experiencing the celebration in Lewes at least once though.
More info:
(check this out – some of the bonfire societies already have posted photos on their website from last night)
hi, i was just searching for ‘oxfam’ and found your blog. i’ve decided to volunteer at my local oxfam shop, i start tomorrow. is the one you went to quite busy? i was surprised at how busy the one near me is! also, did they ask you for references? they asked me for two, i’m only 16 and i’ve only got one person i can get a reference from, do you think they’ll let me get away with one?