Bonfire Night Comes To Rye

Bonfire Night Comes to Rye on 11th November 2017

Rye celebrates Bonfire Night this year on 11th November, which is great news if you missed out on bonfire celebrations on or around the 5th. It may especially be of interest if you’re visiting the area or staying with us Flackley Ash. Rye’s Bonfire Night is really special, and a great family night out.

What can you expect?

Rye’s Guy Fawkes Night is well worth a visit. Like its Sussex distant neighbour, Lewes, the town takes Bonfire Night to a level not reached in many places. Before the familiar fireworks the event features a torchlit procession through the streets, and Rye’s Bonfire Society prepares for this night of firey festivity all year round. An effigy of a disliked figure or event topical to the year is burned on the traditional bonfire. And it’s all for a good cause too, with thousands of pounds raised for local charities.

Rye Fawkes

There are a few details which are quintessential to Rye itself, the most notable being Rye Fawkes. That position is held by a celebrity, and their identity is a closely guarded secret until the day itself. Rye Fawkes is carried in the procession on a sedan chair, and it is their role to ceremonially start the bonfire.

Practical tips

Rye’s Bonfire celebrations are family friendly, but parents are asked to stay with children at all times and not push them to the front of crowds.

There is no parking on the processional route from 4.30pm, and the streets will be closed to traffic from approximately 7.30 – 9.30pm.

Good vantage points for the fireworks include The Salts, Hilders Cliff, the cricket pitch and the back of the Queens pub if you don’t want to be right up close, as well as the Monckbretton bridge area.