Fiery Friary

Amid fireworks, effigies and tableaux, Friary Brass Band marched through the streets of Lewes, East Sussex, once again entertaining the thousands of spectators at the town’s historic Bonfire Night celebrations.  Believed to be the largest event of its kind in the UK, it not only remembers the 1605 'Gunpowder Plot' but also the town’s 17 Protestant martyrs who were burnt at the stake during religious persecutions in the reign of Queen Mary.  Each one is commemorated by a fiery cross carried in the procession which attracts between 25 and 30 bonfire societies from the town and further afield in the county, and up to 80,000 attendees.  

The Band played various sets from dusk till after midnight, surrounded by the revellers.  A particular favourite was Sussex by the Sea, said to have been inspired from the poem Sussex by Rudyard Kipling, and adopted as the unofficial anthem of the county and also of nearby Brighton and Hove Albion FC.

‘What an unbelievable experience with the noise of firecrackers everywhere and the costumes,’ commented Friary chairman David Wicks.  ‘It’s definitely one of our most memorable and unusual gigs: we’re thrilled to be part of such a historic occasion,’ he added.

Sunday will see the Band in a much more solemn setting as it once again leads the Remembrance parade in Guildford.