Guy Fawkes Day is 5th of November, but the fireworks were the weekend before. We could see these from the front of our hostel. Strangely, this holiday is celebrated in New Zealand, but not in Australia, although they're both still commonwealth countries with the queen as the head of state. Guess there's less chance of a fire starting here, as the fireworks have been banned in Australia for about 30 years. Anyway, the holiday celebrates the unsuccessful plan of Guy Fawkes, a Catholic, to blow up the English Parliament a lot of years ago. He was executed, and although I think they sometimes burn him in effigy on top on bonfires as part of the holiday, I don't remember how.
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My wife's b-day is right before Guy Fawkes night, so I've heard all about it... It was over 400 years ago (1605), and although he was born in York in 1570 as Guy Fawkes, he took a Catholic Latinized name of Guido Falcozi (not sure about the last name, I think it's been lost in antiquity) after fighting for the Spainiards as a mercenary. Long, long story though.
Anyways, he failed... but it still makes for pretty bonfires to this day.
He was English, fought for the Spanish and chose an Italian name...go figure:/
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