A U.K. Bonfire Night gets doused
YORK, England: Say York, and Britons might think of its glorious cathedral or its rich Roman history. And they would surely think of Guy Fawkes, the city's most famous deceased resident.
His failure to blow up Parliament in 1605 - and subsequent torture and grisly death - are enthusiastically celebrated with fireworks, bonfires and the burning of Fawkes effigies across Britain every Nov. 5.
York, along with many other British municipalities, has often been the scene of blowout celebrations to commemorate Bonfire Night, as it is called. But the city is not having one this year. No one wanted to spend the money to "address the health and safety measures of having large numbers of people in close proximity to the fireworks," a spokeswoman for the City of York Council said.
The news has raised some criticism in York, where many residents think it is perverse not to have a Guy Fawkes celebration in his hometown. But Steve Galloway, who leads the City Council, said in an interview that a fireworks display would be prohibitively expensive, perhaps at least £100,000, or $200,000, because of such things as crowd control, temporary lighting and crash barriers, not including the fireworks themselves. An accumulation of regulations also made it seem too difficult this year.
Not everyone takes the tradition in the proper spirit, either, Galloway said. "There are those who feel that Guy Fawkes and his attempt to blow up a democratic institution is not something you want to celebrate," he said.
The cancellation has put the city's tourism bureau in a difficult position.
"We get hundreds of calls from people saying, 'We want to celebrate Bonfire Night in the home of Guy Fawkes, and what are you doing?" said Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of the York Tourism Bureau. "We have to say, 'Actually, nothing.' It's quite embarrassing, really."
Beyond that, York's fireworks-free day has provoked a degree of soul-searching in Britain, which loves its traditions and is ever alert to new examples of how safety regulations are thwarting people's efforts to enjoy them.
"You name it and somebody, somewhere behind a desk, will quickly find a regulation that bans it," Michael Nicholson, a television correspondent, wrote in The Daily Mail in an opinion article. He gave other examples, like banning of an annual pantomime show in Kent after the local vicar was told that he was required to pay about £700 to "weight test" an iron beam carrying a light bulb and the organizers were told that they were not allowed to store costumes and scenery behind or under the stage.
Christmas lights displays in towns, as much a feature of the traditional Christmas season here as eating plum pudding, are another problem. Stephen Alambritis, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said many municipalities and businesses were unwilling to spend the money to comply with safety rules governing their installation.
Only registered electricians can put up the lights, and they are required to use cherry-pickers, not ladders, Alambritis said in an interview. Every light bulb has to be tested every year to ensure that it is electrically safe and that it will not "flash in someone's eyes." He said he had heard of one municipality that leaves its Christmas lights up all year around rather than pay the $100,000 or so required to put them up and take them down every year.
"It's a sad state of affairs," Alambritis said. "Each year, it becomes more difficult as local authorities become more risk-averse."
But this time of year, when the air is thick with smoke from bonfires and heavy with the sound of fireworks, people are most upset about what they see as the dwindling of one of their favorite old customs. Last year, rather than trying to meet the safety requirements for building an actual bonfire, a rugby club in Devon showed 1,400 spectators a short movie of a previously filmed bonfire.
"It's just ridiculous," said Rob Anderson, the leader of the Labour opposition in the Slough Borough Council, which decided not to have a bonfire this year. It will have fireworks, though, along with an Asian Elvis impersonator.
"On Bonfire Night, you have a bonfire," Anderson said. "Unfortunately, the people running the council seem to have other ideas, but they don't seem too clear about the reason why not."
Among other things, the Slough authorities have argued that having a bonfire would violate environmental laws, upset residents from foreign countries with no tradition of Guy Fawkes day, and kill animals who settle into the wood before it is set alight and are unable to escape in time.
Todos los años, alrededor del 5 de noviembre, Gran Bretaña y algunas partes de la Commonwealth festejan la Noche de Guy Fawkes, o la Noche de Fuegos Artificiales (''Bonfire Night''), para conmemorar al disidente de York y sus conspiradores católicos, quienes fallaron en volar una de las casas del parlamento el 5 de noviembre de 1605. El llamado 'plan de pólvora' (''Gunpowder Plot'') se celebra con fuegos artificiales, fogatas y efigies de Guy Fawkes.

Expertos en fuegos, siempre ocupados en esta época del año, han pedido el uso seguro y legal de la pirotecnia utilizada, y han pedido a los habitantes a ir a shows públicos organizados. Notablemente, la ciudad de York no festejará la fecha este año, ya que las medidas de salud y seguridad incrementarían los costos excesivamente.

Críticos han destacado que las fogatas y la pirotecnia no son ecológicamente amistosos. Las pilas de madera que son preparadas con anterioridad atraen a criaturas invernantes a hacer sus nidos en la madera, y los cuales podrían ser incinerados en las fogatas. Algunos también sugieren que el ataque fallido de Fawkes no es algo para conmemorar en lo absoluto.