Next: 5 Nov 2026
Bonfire Night
Guy Fawkes Night: bonfires, fireworks, sparklers, and toffee apples on 5 November.
When is Bonfire Night in 2026?
Bonfire Night 2026 is on Thursday, 5 November 2026. Other years: 2027, Friday, 5 November 2027; 2028, Sunday, 5 November 2028.
About Bonfire Night
On 5 November, Britain remembers the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which a group of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Bonfires were first lit to celebrate the king's escape, and an effigy, the Guy, is traditionally burned on top. Today, towns and villages hold firework displays, and families gather around bonfires with sparklers, wrapped in coats and scarves, and eat treats such as toffee apples, parkin, a ginger oatmeal cake, bonfire toffee, jacket potatoes and hot dogs. The rhyme "Remember, remember the fifth of November" is recited. In Lewes in Sussex, torchlit processions and burning tableaux of pope and politicians are held on a large scale.
Bonfire Night dates: 2026, 2027, 2028
| Year | Bonfire Night date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Thursday, 5 November 2026 |
| 2027 | Friday, 5 November 2027 |
| 2028 | Sunday, 5 November 2028 |
What is eaten
- parkin
- toffee apples
- bonfire toffee
- jacket potatoes
Traditions of Bonfire Night
Also part of it, and being written: Guy Fawkes (The conspirator remembered.), Parkin (The Yorkshire ginger cake.).
More marked on Bonfire Night
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreApple bobbing
A Halloween game where players try to catch floating apples with their teeth.Game
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreBonfire Night
Yearly nights of bonfires and fireworks, kept in Britain, Ireland and beyondFestival
🇬🇧 Yorkshire, United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief NightNoson Ddrygioni (Welsh); Oidhche nan Cleas (Scottish Gaelic)
An evening of pranks and tricks, kept before Halloween or Guy Fawkes NightFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief Night
An informal autumn evening of neighbourhood tricks, practical jokes and street pranksFestival
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background: "Guy Fawkes Night" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Apple bobbing: Caleb Zahnd, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bonfire Night: Jpdfive, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lewes Bonfire: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source