Bonfire Night celebration planned for Knavesmire

10:47am Thursday 16th August 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Mark Stead, Political Reporter

Fireworks explode over York during the city's last civic Bonfire Night display in 2005 Fireworks explode over York during the city's last civic Bonfire Night display in 2005

PLANS are being made for a Bonfire Night celebration which organisers say will be the biggest in York’s history.

Rat Race Adventure Sports, which runs sporting and fitness events and activities, is making preparations for a fireworks festival alongside a five-kilometre run at Knavesmire on November 5, with full details set to be revealed soon.

The event - called ‘Gunpowder Plod’ - is being backed by City of York Council and means a major publicly-backed Bonfire Night show will be staged in Guy Fawkes' home city for the first time in seven years. Organisers have promised an “epic display” alongside “a brand new and quite extraordinary sporting event”.

Jim Mee, of Rat Race Adventure Sports, said: “We've been working very closely with City of York Council, and we've got an incredibly exciting event in prospect.

“The full details are still under wraps, but I can promise York has never seen anything like it before."

He said more information would be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The last civic November 5 fireworks display in York was in 2005, when details of its location - in the grounds of Fawkes' former school, St Peter’s - were not revealed until the night itself, leading to city-centre traffic chaos and complaints that huge numbers of people were unable to see the event.

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The lack of a civic event to mark November 5 in York in the years since was reported by newspapers around the world. Clifford’s Tower had previously been the traditional home for York fireworks displays before police safety concerns led to the events being switched to Knavesmire, but these were scrapped by the council because of the costs involved.

Coun Sonja Crisp, the council's cabinet member for leisure, culture and tourism, said: "As the birthplace of Guy Fawkes, we pledged last year that York would commemorate November 5, 2012, in style.

"We've been working hard with partners to ensure this happens, and it's going to be a night to remember."

Comments(21)

Fat Harry says...
12:19pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Glorifying terrorism is illegal under the Terrorism Act 2006 and carries a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment, so I'll be staying indoors that night with a mug of cocoa and an Agatha Christie novel.

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sheps lad says...
12:21pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Back to the story, it will be nice to have some fireworks in York. Shame it has been hijacked.

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steve_york says...
12:30pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Well the council haven't bothered for a long time to do anything for York especially as Guy Fawks was born here and don't believe anything they tell anymore, York Maze "fireworks spectacular" has been far better than anything York has ever bothered trying, I'll stick with what I know works best!

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The Mc says...
12:53pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Whatever they put on on the Knavesmire, they still won't match the Selby fireworks display......

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Even AndyD says...
1:06pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Great news - these events are what community is all about. More please!

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Capt. Dobie says...
2:04pm Thu 16 Aug 12

YAY!! At last, Bonfire night in York again!

Watch JA or CYC stick a spanner in...Donggggg!!!

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lowbeam says...
2:32pm Thu 16 Aug 12

xtc wrote:
Assange!!who cares bout time York marked its hero.
Guy fawkes is a hero? i suppose dick turpin was a hero then and many other shady figures..let us celebrate true hero's not half baked idiots..

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R'Marcus says...
3:11pm Thu 16 Aug 12

lowbeam wrote:
xtc wrote:
Assange!!who cares bout time York marked its hero.
Guy fawkes is a hero? i suppose dick turpin was a hero then and many other shady figures..let us celebrate true hero's not half baked idiots..
Guy Fawkes WAS a hero, and most importantly, he was from York.

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SteadyOn says...
3:58pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Anyway, back on topic... as I understood it, rather than celebrating Guy Fawkes the man, isn't 5th November more a celebration of his failure and subsequent demise? It all seems to have become blurred over the centuries. He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy! To put it in context with a modern analogy, it'd be a bit like our American cousins celebrating the work of Timothy McVeigh. Still, I do like fireworks and toffee apples, so I suppose on this occasion I'm willing to take the rough with the smooth and overlook all of that.

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Jiminy Cricket says...
4:03pm Thu 16 Aug 12

The Mc wrote:
Whatever they put on on the Knavesmire, they still won't match the Selby fireworks display......
Tell that to the guy who last year had one of your unexploded fireworks land on the roof of his car in the supermarket car park opposite.

Don't you bother with risk assessments along with health and safety procedures in Selby?

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Jiminy Cricket says...
4:06pm Thu 16 Aug 12

5k run? What the hell's that got to do with bonfire night?

Is this the best the council could come up with?

They'll be telling us next that it's all going to be choreographed to choirs and church bells!

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Even AndyD says...
5:23pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Jiminy Cricket wrote:
5k run? What the hell's that got to do with bonfire night?

Is this the best the council could come up with?

They'll be telling us next that it's all going to be choreographed to choirs and church bells!
You need an excuse to exercise and perhaps raise money for good causes? Get your trainers on - it will be fun! :-)

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consumer says...
6:02pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Knavesmire or otherwise, I heartily celebrate the death of Guy Fawkes and the thwarting of Papist tyranny every November 5th. Burn him.

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marvell says...
7:02pm Thu 16 Aug 12

Great news - with one proviso - that NOT ONE PENNY of Council money is spent on this.

In a week where Labour locally have cut vital daily services to vulnerable people in the community - any money spent on this would be totally unjustifiable...

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Garrowby Turnoff says...
7:47pm Thu 16 Aug 12

I'll be there

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Woody G Mellor says...
8:34pm Thu 16 Aug 12

UNBELIEVABLE! You bunch of miserable swines. I'll bet my last quid most of you lot moaning about this are the same lot that have been moaning that we haven't been celebrating November 5th over the last few years.

Why can't you just be happy for once? Miserable gits! And long may we recognise this son of York, the only bloke to enter Parliament with good intentions.

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jgycfc says...
1:27am Fri 17 Aug 12

Guy Fawkes entered Parliament with honest intentions. He was probably the last person to do so. We should honour him for that in a city where Our Glorious Leader is as much Labour as Billy the Fish is actually a goal keeper.

Poor Gillies... JA is clearly eating all his sandwiches and stealing all his ideas. Where can you go other than more out of touch and more right wing?

Back to Guy Fawkes, it's originally a celebration of Catholic failures... (That's now a Glasgow celebration). But hey, at least Clinton Cards haven't yet got a "Happy Bonfire Night my Favourite Teacher" card yet... so celebrate that too!

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Candy Cupcake says...
8:51am Fri 17 Aug 12

As a mum and Aunty, I am delighted we will finally have a firework display! I just hope it is not too expensive, as much as I would have loved to have gone to they York Maze, it just costs too much. :)

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capt spaulding says...
8:56am Fri 17 Aug 12

mrcharly wrote:
Assange is a self-important twit. He needs to get over himself. He's about as brave and bold as an electric rabbit on a greyhound track.

Guy Fawkes now - I don't approve of bombs, but someone needs to light a rocket under the government.
One under our own council would be a good start.

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Mark Brayshaw says...
9:05am Fri 17 Aug 12

Candy Cupcake wrote:
As a mum and Aunty, I am delighted we will finally have a firework display! I just hope it is not too expensive, as much as I would have loved to have gone to they York Maze, it just costs too much. :)
Watch this space!

The Gunpowder Plod and York Maze are not going to be the only options.

I promised there would be a return of a family friendly, traditional (but not so old-fashioned) fireworks spectacular.

The contracts have finally been signed sealed and delivered so all I can say is that York is definitely going to go Kaboom this November!

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TerryYork says...
11:41am Fri 17 Aug 12

Fawkes was a hero. Assange is scum. The fact his World of Warcraft and layout hippies support him with Guy Fawkes masks shows how little they know about history.

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