Folklore:

“Ok so in around the 1580s the King of England was on the throne —I think it was King James— and this man called Guy Fawkes was a protestant who was leading a revolt against the king because treatment of the Catholics. They filled the cellars with gunpowder to destroy the parliament, but they were discovered and caught before they could light the powder. He was hung, drawn, and quartered. They hung him by the neck and cut his chest and stomach. So now, every November 15th, England celebrates the attempted murder of the King with the Guy Fawkes Festival of mainly fireworks to recreate what would have happened. 

Even in France we celebrate Guy Fawkes, there are fireworks all night, and people get together and party. As a kid we would go to the countryside and all of the families would go to this big field and the parents would light a bunch of fireworks. There is food and music and drinking (we French will take any reason to drink haha) and it was one of my favorite celebrations as a kid. When I learned that the man we are celebrating was hung, it was kind of bittersweet. It is a fun day but a sad story”

Context:

CD is a French woman in her early 20s. She was born and raised in Paris (and lives there now) but her family is originally from England. In her family, because of their British roots, Guy Fawkes is one of her family’s main celebrated holidays. Every year, her uncle who grew up in England taught her the history of the holiday.

Analysis:

This Festival is different from traditional folk festivals as, aside from the fact that it happens yearly, it does not commemorate a change of sorts. Instead it is in remembrance of a significant event in the cultures history. It uses symbolism, in this case the fireworks, to represent the revolution and celebrates the cultural ideals and passing on their history.