Guy Fawkes Day just another chance to celebrate

BY NADINE ARMSTRONG

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

Any old excuse for a party will do, especially during the dreary month of November. That’s according to one Hants County man who went back to his roots to initiate a new family tradition.

Having an English mother certainly helped Fred Campbell justify bringing the effigy-roasting bonfire party commonly known in the U.K. as Guy Fawkes Day to his own backyard.

Nov. 5 commemorates the day Fawkes was hung for his part in the 1605 'gunpowder plot', a conspiracy to blow up the British House of Lords. Campbell said growing up in Canada, his family never celebrated the event, but he often heard stories of how entire communities in England would gather to build enormous fires and throw a Fawkes likeness into the flames.

However, for Campbell, Guy Fawkes Day is really just another reason to host a family party. “This has less to do with Guy Fawkes than it does bringing everyone together,” he said.

This is the second year Campbell has held the party and he says it’s a great way to deal with the time-change and approach of winter.

“November is just such a blah month and this is a good excuse to have some fun,” he said.

The event includes lots of merriment and, of course, the bonfire, which not only consumes a Fawkes effigy, but cooks up some tasty marshmallows as well. And with the temperate weather lasting later into the season this year, he said there hasn't been a problem hosting the outdoor event.

“It’s nice. We hang around outside, have a barbecue and even fireworks. It’s great for the kids.”

‘Stay simple’

Campbell said many of the more traditional holidays have become so commercialized that he wanted to find one that could 'stay simple'.

“During Christmas and Thanksgiving everyone is so busy and stressed they can hardly find time to be together,” he said.

In his opinion, society has begun to dictate what people need and how to do it, so much so that our lives are taken over by the celebrations. Since Guy Fawkes is a little-known entity around these parts, Campbell figured it's one holiday that comes “without all the usual expectations.”

Since he started to host the party, Campbell has begun to research the event as well. “It’s terribly important in England and New Zealand, basically anywhere English people live,” he said. Which also fits in nicely with his own family’s roots.

“There’s a renewed interest. People are celebrating this all over the globe now and it’s not just for those living in England.”

The success of this family event has inspired Campbell to look into other less traditional holidays. “I've researched the Greek Christmas,” he said. “It's very interesting the way they really carry it out and make it last much later into the season.” He’s thinking also of devising a summer solstice celebration.

“When you think about it, really, why not celebrate every occasion if you can? We can invent our own family traditions, and it's important to do that.

“We can choose when and how we celebrate and we should do it as much as possible. That’s what family is all about.”