They hail from China, herald in the New Year, mark the burning of a Catholic traitor and are banned in southern Ireland.
And fireworks will be lit all over the UK tonight to commemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
That was when a group of disenchanted Catholic noblemen attempted to blow up Parliament and the Protestant British monarch James I.
Now a bit of back story here about Jazza (as he’s never been known, probably more of a Jacques which is why Scots are called Jocks).
James had reason to be more afraid of gunpowder than the next man (and who doesn’t jump when a cannon goes off?)
Because his mum Mary, Queen of Scots (the real one, not that awful Saoirse Ronan version) blew up her Dad Henry, Lord Darnley.
That would tend to do it.
Anyhoos, fireworks.
I’ve seen a few, though few compare to home when I don’t make the bed properly or plump up the cushions.
Edinburgh
Every Hogmanay (it’s Scottish for New Year’s Eve) there is a fireworks display and a series of concerts.
You can actually set your clock by it.
Which is why a fellow journalist wrote it up in advance of the event.
In the eye of the storm
The only thing is that this would be the one year when an electric storm would lead to it being cancelled.
Embra is one of the great cities, was my home for ten years, and may yet be again.
Ryanair www.ryanair.com and Aer Lingus http://www.aerlingus.com both fly there. And Visit Scotland www.visitscotland.com will sort you out.
Disney
The Happiest Place on Earth does fireworks spectacularly.
You’d be disappointed really if it was a damp squib, which incidentally is a firework.
Mickey’s mates
I looked out on the nightly pyrotechnics on the parks from my billet at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando www.fourseasons.com. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_GB/?CMP=OKC-wdw_themeparks_gmap_421
Here’s how it all went down with me and The Donald in Florida… Why I love The Donald.
I caught up again with the big-mouthed one in Anaheim this year…
Where I partied with Mickey and the gang.
Dresden
Fire is an elemental force that we must always handle with care
The fireworks over the River Elbe on our evening cruise were illuminating.
Dresden’s party
All the more so as this city has been burnt by fire, the Allied airmen’s firebombs in the Second World War razing the Saxon Venice to the ground.
That the Dresdeners rebuilt their city exactly how it used to be marks it down
As one of the most remarkable stories of modern urban planning… Dresden’s renaissance. And https://www.dresden.de/en/tourism/tourism.php.
