Our Fourth Annual Bonfire Night Party
We first held a Bonfire Night party at our house before we extended it, and still had our tiny old kitchen and 80s decor. On the plus side, when guests ground pumpkin cake into the carpet it couldn’t matter less; on the downside, trying to feed 40-odd people from a kitchen the size of my shoe was somewhat of a challenge. I seem to recall providing soup that people drunk from random assorted mugs, and a big tureen of chilli that could only be served by implementing a strict one in, one out policy in the kitchen.
Our second party was held in the new extension but before the new kitchen went in - also known as the party where I managed just in time to prevent people from lobbing the garden fence onto the bonfire (ooh can we burn these? well, that’s our fence panelling, so ideally not) but we did set fire to an old chopping board after running out of wood to burn.
And then for last year’s party we finally had our new kitchen-party-house set-up, which our 84 guests effortlessly coated in mud (it was wet outside and the small rug we had provided for wiping feet just didn’t cut the mustard). Hosting this many people in our house was absolutely hilarious at the time but the clean-up was grim.
This year’s party was our best effort yet - fewer people; more printed signs telling people where to put their coats and their green waste. Pot luck curry, sausages on the braai, chilli, goulash, Asian rice salad, chicken and mushroom casserole, roast vegetables, naan bread, pumpkin cake, carrot cake, leftover Halloween candy.
Lovely little squibby fireworks called things like Crystal Fountain or Silver Rain, big exciting rockets, a rainbow-flamed bonfire, and lots and lots of sparklers. Followed by a living room disco to 90s trance music, natch.
Andre and our friend Bridget are in charge of fireworks, and they take their role very seriously. Next year, to up the game, we’ve requested double fireworks to a sound track of some kind. Bring it, guys.
My favourite thing about Bonfire Night is definitely the sparklers. Our friend Jeremy took this picture.
And that’s a wrap for Bonfire Night 2018. Well, apart from a little bit of clean-up the next day, of course.