The traditional Bonfire Night event on November 8th was truly significant for students and teachers at Christ’s Hospital. The sense of anticipation in the air was felt by everyone as they gathered around on the vast grass field, even from the very start of the event.

 

“Christ’s Hospital has been celebrating this festival for many years now,” one pupil told me on the way to the grass field, “They had spent lots of money into this.”

 

The scene became larger and larger as a large group of people built up in front of a food van before the fireworks started, and the food trays were very soon empty. Surprisingly, it seemed to always be the case - one student reported that last year people waited for one hour on food, which was even longer the time of the actual fireworks.

 

The event kicked off when a pop music began to play. Hundreds of metres into the grass field, streams of fireworks were emitted into the sky, some opening into a blossom, some shooting high up into the sky like rockets, continuing to dazzle the crowd. There was much more chaos and excitement, however, when a loud, Tiktok-type music was put on. Interestingly enough, a group of students suddenly leapt into the air and started dancing with the rhythm!

 

Perhaps what was even more captivating was the ball-shaped flame effects just ten metres away from the crowd. Often used for stage effects or shows, these flames rise in a particular colour and then immediately disappear, leaving people in awe. “Spectacular.” A student pointed out after watching rounds and rounds of ball-shaped flames emerging and disappearing. Indeed, students and teachers at Christ’s Hospital were so lucky this year to witness this flame effect, as one English teacher informed us that Christ’s Hospital “didn’t include this into the firework event last year”.

 

The event ended with a gigantic golden firework splashing into the sky and forming the shape of a pine tree. There was little doubt that people thought highly of this Bonfire Night event, and it was almost irrefutable that the time, money, and energy that the school spent into this event were all worthwhile.