It goes ‘bang bang bang’ in Leyton!
It has reached the time of the year where sounds of fireworks can be heard going off across your neighbourhood! On the 1st November, Barclay Primary School celebrated Bonfire Night with vibrant firework displays!
Before we get into the details of that, we’ll begin with the history of Bonfire Night. Bonfire Night or sometimes known as Guy Fawkes Night is sparked by the Gunpowder Plot, which was a failed assassination attempt in 1605 against King James and was led by a group of English Catholics. The participants of this plot were eventually all convicted and sentenced to death. Bonfire Night is annually held on November 5th to mark the anniversary of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot. However, in this day and age, many people celebrate Bonfire Night by lighting up bonfires and setting off fireworks.
Over on Canterbury Road where Barclay Primary School is situated, there were displays of glimmering fireworks that were evident and illuminate in the dark sky with a lively atmosphere that was accompanied by joyful music. Every year, Barclay Primary School celebrates this day with dazzling fireworks displays!
For this event, non-students pay a £5 entrance fee and students that attend Barclay Primary School can enter this event for free. The gates opened at 6pm and the place was full of local residents and students who attend the school. Despite the cold weather, roughly 350 people attended this event. During this event, there were bookstores and food and drink stalls that sold burgers and many other snacks. In addition, there were also mini stalls that sold different styles of glow sticks that were worn by many people during this event.
What made the event even more exciting was the fact that Barclay Primary School’s mascot, the Barclay Lion attended this event and took many photos with children! Sue Black, who is a long time staff at the school said: “This event is truly magnificent and it is something that has been going on every year ever since I can remember. We plan several months ahead as we need to buy the fireworks and also alert the local authority and police”. According to other staff members, it had been stated that “staff members are also well-trained and the fireworks are set off in the other playground to make sure that it’s safe”.
The firework display started at 7:00pm and lasted for approximately 15 minutes. The crowd were greeted with displays featuring colourful visuals and classical hits such as ‘Firework’ by Katy Perry. During the firework display, you could still easily hear the excitable screams of kids in the crowd. The event ended at approximately 8:15pm and concluded with remixes of songs from the DJ.
The event was absolutely spectacular as the energy from the crowd was amazing. The staff at the school had promised that there will be another Firework display like this next year. Furthermore, the school has also announced that Barclay Primary School will hold a Winter Wonderland event in this December so feel free to check that out when the time comes!
