Bonfire Night 2018: fireworks displays and events in Blackpool and surrounding areas

From the large-scale fireworks displays to smaller community events, here’s a comprehensive guide to what’s on near you around Bonfire Night this year.

Remember to wrap up warm and stay safe amid the sparklers and rockets.

Family Bonfire & Fireworks Night- Blackpool Cricket Club

04 Nov 2018 - 4pm-10pm

Food outlets also serving hot and cold drinks

Licensed bar

Kiddies Fun Fair

Face painting

Stalls

Bonfire will be lit around 6pm with fireworks sheduled for 7pm.

Entry admission on gate.

Price: £5 Admission

Blackpool Cricket Club, Barlow Crescent , West Park Drive, Blackpool, FY3 9EQ

Lytham Round Table Fireworks Display

05 Nov 2018 - 5pm

Fireworks due to start at 7:30pm

No dogs or sparklers allowed

Price: £2.50 in advance / £3.50 on the night / £12 for family of four

Fylde Rugby Football Club, Blackpool Road, Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, FY8 4EL

Cottam Hall Bonfire and Fireworks Night 2018

05 Nov 2018 - Contact venue

Poulton Rotary Club will be holding their 32nd Annual Charity Bonfire and Fireworks Display Cottam Hall Fields

Price: adults £5 / children £3 / family £15

Cottam Hall Playing Fields, Blackpool Old Road, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, FY6 7RN

Fireworks at Fleetwood Town

02 Nov 2018 - Gates open at 6.30pm

The fifth consecutive annual Fireworks at Fleetwood Town. A spectacular night of fun and entertainment for all the family.

Price: Tickets for the Parkside Stand are £4 for adults, and £2 for under 16s

Tickets on sale from the club shop and ticket office.

Highbury Stadium, Park Avenue, Fleetwood, FY7 6TX

Firework Extravaganza at Marine Hall

05 Nov 2018 - 5.30pm - 9pm

Fireworks start at 7.30pm

Price: Free

Marine Hall, The Esplanade, Fleetwood, Lancashire, FY7 6HF

A History of Bonfire Night

“Remember remember the fifth of November.” But just why do we venture out into the cold to stand around a bonfire and set off fireworks every year?

Of course, it’s all to do with Guy Fawkes who, on November 5, 1605, was arrested while guarding the explosives he and a team of accomplices had placed beneath the House of Lords.

The Gunpowder Plot was intended as a murderous prologue to a Midlands revolt designed to disrupt a ceremony in which King James I’s nine-year-old daughter was to be installed as the Catholic head of state.

But it failed when authorities were tipped off by an anonymous letter.

In its early days, Bonfire Night was an enforced public day of thanksgiving, celebrating the fact that King James I’s life was spared by the plot’s failure.

Gunpowder Treason Day was the main English state commemoration, but it wasn’t originally the cosy celebration with sparklers and hot drinks we’ve come to know today.

With strong anti-Catholic overtones, violence was known to flare up, and sermons warning against the dangers of Catholicism were often preached against a backdrop of burning effigies of the Pope.

Even long after the day’s origins, 19th century towns saw class-warfare erupt; it wasn’t until 1859 – when the Observance of 5th November Act was repealed – that the violence began to subside.

By the 20th century, the event became more recognisable as the Bonfire Night we know today, with the setting off of fireworks a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for Guy Fawkes’ sternly guarded cargo.