“Remember, remember, the Fifth of November: gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Plot should ever be forgot.”
There is in fact surprisingly little chance of forgetting it. After the failure to blow up the English Parliament in 1605, it was subsequently enshrined in English law in the 1605 Thanksgiving Act to hold church services on the subject.
The act, amongst other things, pays tribute to the “most great, learned and religious King that ever reigned therein, enriched with a most hopeful and plentiful progeny”, and goes on to outline that every Sunday prior to the 5th November each year, every minister shall “give warning to his parishoners publicly in the church at morning prayer” and that after morning prayer or if they should preach upon the 5th, they must read through the act and display its content.
Within 10 years or so, the commemorative aspects had largely turned into a more festive occasion with drinking, and later turning to burning effigies as the factions of 17th Century Britain fought between Catholicism and Protestantism. The festive spirit does remain today across the south of England with local groups putting on parades and marching through the towns in the lead-up to 5th November where tens of thousands will gather in the small town of Lewes for fire, fireworks, effigy burning and so on.
The 2026 event included burning effigies of Fifa boss Gianni Infantino and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.