“Remember, Remember the fifth of November: Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot!”
On Sunday November 4th, Westminster Business School organised an outing with our exchange and international students came to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night at the Richmond Athletics Club. We met at the University of Westminster reception and I explained that every year England celebrates the failure of Guy Fawkes and his group’s plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament and assassinate King James I. This tradition was started in 1605 and has continued for over 400 years! Everyone was excited to be part of this long English tradition, and see a great fireworks display too! With our warm coats, hats, scarves and gloves we headed off to Richmond.
We arrived in plenty of time to try the local winter specialities; hot chocolate, mulled wine and a delicious hog roast were just a sample of what was on offer. With our warm beverage in hand, we split into smaller groups to discover the other delights on offer at the numerous stalls. My group headed to the colourful sweet and nut stall for some hot honey roasted almonds!
Feeling thoroughly warmed up we continued to make our way round the different stalls and even tried a few of the funfair games. There was so much to see and do, but we wanted to get a good seat for the fireworks before they all filled up!
The ever-resourceful Laginia used her cunning to keep moving us forward towards the front of the stalls. Within five minutes we had a picture perfect view ready for the fireworks. Thanks Laginia!
Before the fireworks display began, we were treated to some local entertainment. The acts were absolutely fantastic! The stand-out acts were the three groups from the local dance school performed a series of break-dance routines. With performers ranging from 3 to 15 years old, these young performers energised the crowd with their choreography and tricks!
We had time for one giant ‘Mexican Wave’ to make its way around the audience before the Mayoress of Richmond began the countdown. A very excited group of Westminster Business School staff and students counted down enthusiastically from 10 with the crowd. Perfectly timed, and with an enormous roar, the ‘Best of British’ fireworks display illuminated the skies. For 20 minutes the crowd was entertained by the magical colours and sounds of Richmond’s display, and accompanied by iconic British music, it was truly a wonderful evening!
After the event we all headed back to the station and shared ideas for our next WBS outing!
This blog post is written by Alexandra Andreou – International Partnerships Administrator
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