A consequence of our emaciated calendar of holidays is that we often gape in awe at the number of holidays and festivals celebrated here, each steeped with its own historical or religious significance and often celebrated fervently, most of the time in the original spirit. But, detached as we are from the origins of many of these festivals and anxious sometimes to dismiss them for their imperialist origins, we are unable to partake in their spirit. Naturally, given the date, I was referring to Guy Fawkes' Day, or more appropriately, Bonfire Night, seeing as it is that most of the activity takes place in the dark hours (which of course, given the season, hardly qualify as being at night).

Because of the anarchistic propensities of one person, that, depending on your political alignment, fortunately failed, and through a whole series of transformations, reconstruction and misunderstandings led to the whole tradition of setting off fireworks and creating large piles of burning objects in a pyromanic fit, though it's easier to skip the social development viewpoint of that and look at the much more direct motivation of fun. And because, as most people will feel, that it is very odd to see fireworks on occasions that are not the New Year or National Day, experiencing Guy Fawkes' Day can be a little disconcerting (though it is mostly because of a largely rational fear of the irrational discharge of fireworks, uncontrolled items as they are)

But after some hours of peering over the inky silhouettes of trees and buildings to catch fleeting glimpses of fireworks that, no doubt in our minds, were probably rather pretty (who has ever criticised any fireworks display as not being pretty?), it emerged that this festival was probably like no other, a festival that had transcended the ages relatively unscathed and whose straightforward spirit could not be adulterated by political or market forces. There was, at least in the major media, no excessive advertising for it and its associated accesories, unlike its recently concluded counterpart Halloween (that is actually neither a festival nor a holiday, quite like Bonfire Night). It was truly popular because of some more basal emotion rather than because of mass marketing.

The cultural influence of that can be obvious, given the immense and pervasive power of commercialism. Festivals that have been put through that production line emerge in a singular but copious form, a single form that has been carefully engineered to become culturally acceptable. Bonfire night can somehow still seriously be thought to fan the long-extinguished flames of anti-Catholic sentiment, which, in a politically-correct context is disastrous. Indeed, to perpetuate the traditions of this occasion might even be defiant. But the conclusion is still that it is almost free from the grasp of television, advertising and other mystical influences that have pervaded other holidays, some of which we invariably will be familiar with.

So while blowing things up and setting other things on fire does seem a little scary and dangerous, it's also culturally and socially rather innocuous. By the looks of things, it might be one of the few left that is still a "people's celebration".