Northiam Bonfire
This small Wealden village keeps the old Sussex tradition alive with a torchlit procession, costumed marchers and a village bonfire and fireworks.
Northiam punches well above its size thanks to Great Dixter alone, and a working bakery-cafe, village stores and heritage steam railway give it just enough practical life to reward an unhurried visit.
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"For 16 September days, hundreds of artists and makers open studios, homes and galleries across the Lewes District villages from Lewes to Seaford, Newhaven and the surrounding countryside in its 32nd year as the South East's most accessible open art festival."
Artwave Festival
"One of the earliest events of the Sussex bonfire season sends costumed societies and burning torches through a pretty Wealden village high street."
Mayfield Bonfire
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Thirty specialist nurseries gather at Christopher Lloyd's legendary experimental garden for a weekend of rare plants, short plantsmanship talks at the stalls and famous cake."
Great Dixter Autumn Plant Fair
"Six rival bonfire societies stage torch-lit processions, burning effigies, and fireworks through the streets of Lewes on the 5th in what is widely regarded as the UK's most spectacular and defiant Bonfire Night tradition."
Lewes Bonfire Celebrations
"Six rival bonfire societies fill the narrow streets with blazing torches, burning crosses and exploding effigies in the wildest Fifth of November spectacle in the world."
Lewes Bonfire Night Celebrations
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Visiting societies and burning torches process past the abbey where the Battle of Hastings was fought, ending with a roaring bonfire and fireworks."
Battle Bonfire
✦ Weird and Wonderful"This Kent town builds an eleven metre satirical effigy of a chosen public figure each year and blows it sky high with gunpowder and flame."
Edenbridge Bonfire
✦ Weird and Wonderful"The King's Swan Marker and Livery Companies row six traditional skiffs upstream from Sunbury to Abingdon over five days, counting and marking every mute swan on the Thames in a ceremony unchanged since the 12th century."
Royal Swan Upping
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Named for the spectral black dog that terrorised St Mary's Church in 1577, this brilliant folklore festival fills the town with art, parade, storytelling and a ritual burning of demons."
Black Shuck Festival
✦ Weird and Wonderful"At the Barley Mow pub in Bonsall village, hens race over a thirty-foot course in heats building to a grand final, watched by enthusiastic crowds who take this Derbyshire Peak District tradition with exactly the gravity it deserves."
Bonsall World Championship Hen Racing
✦ Weird and Wonderful"The village of Heather, Kings Award winner, goes cheerfully insane each August as gardens fill with hundreds of scarecrows depicting celebrities and topical characters, all competing for votes from the crowds who walk the trail with a guide booklet."
Heather Scarecrow Festival
✦ Weird and Wonderful"A three-day seaside spectacle in the tiny village of Seaview complete with a greasy pole over the sea, tug of war, swimming races, diving and a fireworks display over the Solent."
Seaview Village Regatta
✦ Weird and Wonderful