Brockham Bonfire 2023

🔥 BROCKHAM BONFIRE AND FIREWORKS 🎆
SATURDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2023

The LARGEST Guy Fawkes night display in the UK!
4 tonnes of fireworks, costing over £60,000

⏱️ Time codes at the bottom!

‼️ PLEASE READ ‼️
Yes, I am well aware of: all the bonfire smoke sometimes obscuring some of the view (MAJORITY OF IT IS FINE!); the camera movement a few times near the start of the display, and the video cutting out for a few seconds at the start of the display. We’d experienced awful weather due to Storm Ciarán - lots of firework displays had to be cancelled due to the flooding and heavy rain! For the first time ever, Brockham Bonfire had to move their display to an entirely different field. I was under the impression that I’d get a decent view (that the fireworks would be slightly more to the left - the announcer said they would be from the east, but it seemed more south east!). Why didn’t I just move? Because the event gets around 20,000 people crowded in a small village - trying to shuffle past when people are focused on a display is bloody awkward (in both senses of the word lol)! Even harder when there are umbrellas everywhere (some silly cow wafted hers in front of my phone towards the end, dripping on the lens 😑)! People squeezing past was the reason for a lot of the camera movement at the start (plus the occasional wipe of the lens). It cut out a few times by accident when wiping the lens, but in total I probably missed between 10 - 20 seconds, so nothing to worry about!
I was also emotionally drained, as my grandad had passed away five days before. So naturally, my brain wasn’t prioritising smoke sometimes obscuring parts of a HUGE display. I was just happy to be there, and that the event wasn’t cancelled ❤️

It was a very entertaining evening 😃 I got to Brockham a tad later than planned, but was still able to be a torch bearer for the first time! It was a cool experience, loved the atmosphere and friendliness of everyone ☺️ Placing the torch on the bonfire wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I imagined it would be - the fire had barely started burning! It was also lovely to see the procession and the Guy - which was massive and beautifully made 😃 You will see how smoky the village was after the bonfire was lit - I couldn’t see where I was going when returning to the crowds after placing my torch, it was very disorientating! The display was, as ever, a breathtaking job by Titanium Fireworks! Lots of huge, LOUD fireworks and so many different, unique ones too! If you’d like to see what one of Brockham’s brilliant displays looks like without smoke in the way, check out last year’s (2022) or 2019 😁

📹 Camera: iPhone 14 Pro (4K, 60fps, HDR)
🎙️ Mic: Shure MV88 Digital Stereo Condenser

⏱️ TIME CODES:
0:00 Procession and the Guy, Sea Cadet band & torch bearers
0:44 VERY smoky village green
1:20 Info about the display
2:57 🎆 FIREWORK DISPLAY BEGINS 🎇
12:41 SMILEY FACES & FINALE
15:39 Bonfire, steaming bag, village green after the display