Remember, remember the 5th of November

Bonfire night is the best, our one true love. Partly because we love all the ceremonial hoo-ha involved in the super old fashioned celebrations and partly because no-one can resist an epic musical firework display, even if a lot of then do seem to have a music curation policy that requires each track to either be a) a classical piece once used in a TV advert, b) an actual TV theme tune c) a Bond theme.

Our favourite display in London is the one at Battersea Park. It has music, it has endless hotdog stands , sometimes it even has aerialists suspended from cranes. The music is obviously picked by someone's granny but we've been having an amazing time there for years, and it's so romantic walking back over the gorgeous Chelsea bridge to jump on the bus home. If that's sold you on it, it's this weekend and tickets (£9 for adults, free for under 10s) are still available.

If you want to see a 'proper' Bonfire night celebration then Lewes is the only celebration of it's type and scale in the UK. Talk about value for money: there are actually six different Bonfire Societies celebrating in Lewes each with their own processions, traditions, costumes, fires and fireworks. There are 30+ processions between 5pm and 1am. 

The most notable feature of the event is the 17 burning crosses which are carried in the processions. These are for the 17 martyrs burned at the stake in Lewes between 1555 and 1557 (to give context, the gunpowder plot happened in 1605).

The Lewes celebration actually happens on the 5th of November - tonight - so if you want to get to see it you'll need to hot foot it to the train station tonight or put it in the diary for next year.

Dia de los Muertos

Early November is our favourite time of year. Not only do we have the very British tradition of Bonfire Night, we also have the not remotely British Dia de los Muertos just beforehand. 

The nice thing about Dia de los Muertos is that it's got such a lovely sentiment: it's all about re-connecting with loved ones who have passed away. So much better than trying to scare the pants off each other. It's also a super versatile theme, as demonstrated by two parties we had a hand in recently: at one end of the scale, an lavish 30th birthday party in Shoreditch and at the other a DIY kids party.

For the 30th: live gypsy/rock band, giant glitter skulls, clouds of silk hand painted butterflies, updated classic Mexican cocktails in jam jars and a Lily Vanilli cake crawling with edible bugs and dripping with flowers.

For the DIY kids party: all sorts of amazing free printables, including Pin the Bone on the Skeleton, skull printables for illuminated jam jars and skull papel picado, mariachi musical chairs, a pull tab burro pinata, colourful napkins from Tiger, multicolour striped straws from Fred Aldous (waaaay better value for money than anywhere else), face painting and lots of silly dancing.... so. much. fun.