LEWES BONFIRE COUNCIL

 Home link
 Cliffe Bonfire Society link
 Commercial Square Bonfire Society link
 Lewes Borough Bonfire Society link
 Nevill Juvenile Bonfire Society link
 Southover Bonfire Society
 South Street Bonfire Society link
 Waterloo Bonfire Society link

The Lewes Societies

 Lewes  can boast no fewer than seven Bonfire Societies, six of which hold their celebrations on the same night (5th November, or when the Fifth is on a Sunday, 4th November). The remaining society, Nevill Juvenile, holds its night on a Saturday a couple of weeks before the Fifth.

 Some Bonfire Societies have come and gone in Lewes. No longer do we have Landport Bonfire Society. Some Societies have died and then been re-formed later, such as Southover; some are simply recent formations; but some have a continuous tradition going back to the middle of the 19th century.

 Why are there so many societies? Well, for one thing, if everybody amalgamated into one single procession (the nearest thing achieved to this is a procession containing all the Societies except Cliffe) it would be so long that it would be well-nigh impossible to maintain throughout the evening. By covering different areas of the town (with, of course, a certain amount of overlap) and by dispersing to different firesites for separate bonfires and firework displays, the Societies are able to bring Bonfire to more of the town, and many more people are able to watch.

 Each Society has something different to offer. Nevill Juvenile Bonfire Society, for instance, is specifically for children. South Street used to be a juvenile society too, but has mutated into an adult one. Waterloo, while an adult society, is perhaps more family-oriented than some others, while the Cliffe, Commercial Square and Lewes Borough societies cling proudly to their respective ancient traditions.

 There are, of course, many other Bonfire and even Carnival Societies in Sussex (of which Edenbridge, actually in Kent, is an honorary member), holding their celebrations from the end of August right up to the end of November. It is common for societies to visit other societies' celebrations, joining in their processions - and a number of other societies are represented in Lewes on the Fifth, processing with one or another of the Lewes Societies.