Doing bonfire night right

After something like five years in Brighton, I finally made it over to Lewes for Bonfire Night yesterday, and it was definitely an experience. I knew that it was supposed to be a big deal, but didn't quite grasp how much time and effort the inhabitants of this usually sleepy little town throw into a night of pyrotechnic mayhem, or quite how many people would be packing the streets (and this was supposedly a 'quiet' year).

Of course, what with low light conditions, constant jostling and ever-increasing state of inebriation, hardly any of the dozens of snaps I took with my phone camera actually amounted to anything beyond indistinct blurs of flame against black backgrounds, but I am glad that this one came out - the juxtaposition struck me as immensely amusing at the time...

Here's one of the only other shots that came out quite well, although it didn't really pick up the haze of smoke that by this time had settling over all the main streets of the town centre from the near-constant torch-lit processions and countless firecrackers that they strew along their routes...

Thanks to Sam for hosting the evening, and the people of Lewes for unleashing their pyromania in such memorable fashion.