Halloween

[Taunton Blue Genie]

The difference between bonfire night and halloween, apart from the obvious tradition v non-tradition Yank influence, is that bonfire night was when you made the night by doing things - making a guy, gathering stuff for the bonfire etc. As you say halloween is just an excuse to sell cheap plastic junk to parents and kids for rip off prices..

Indeed. I see Halloween in the same vein as pizza. Originally European and sold back to us by the yanks.
I used to be sniffy about Halloween effectively subsuming bonfire night until I remembered that it's about burning a catholic insurrectionist. However, Mr Fawkes seems to take a back seat in Lewes, where they burn and effigy of the pontiff....