Abonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a celebration.
The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with theCatholicon Anglicum spelling it asbanefyre andJohn Mirk'sBook of Festivals[2] speaking of a communal fire in celebrations ofSaint John's Eve that "was clene bones & no wode & that is callid a bone fyre".[3] The word is thus a compound of "bone" and "fire."[4]
Samuel Johnson's 1755Dictionary incorrectly analyzed "bon" as the Frenchbon 'good'.[5]
In many regions of continental Europe, bonfires are made traditionally on 24 June,[citation needed] thesolemnity ofJohn the Baptist, as well as on Saturday night before Easter.[citation needed] Bonfires are also a feature ofWalpurgis Night in central and northern Europe, andthe celebrations on the eve of St. John's Day in Spain. In Sweden bonfires are lit onWalpurgis Night celebrations on the last day of April. InFinland andNorway bonfires are tradition onMidsummer Eve and to a lesser degree in Easter.
Bonfire traditions of early spring, lit on the Sunday followingAsh Wednesday (Funkensonntag, otherwise calledQuadragesima Sunday), are widespread throughout theAlemannic German speaking regions of Europe and in parts of France. The burning of "winter in effigy" at theSechseläuten inZürich (introduced in 1902) is inspired by this Alemannic tradition. In Austria, the custom of the "Osterfeuer" or Easter fires is widespread, but also regulated in some cities, districts and countries to hold down the resulting annual peak of PM10-dust emission. There are also "Sonnwendfeuer" (solstice fires) ignited on the evening of 21 June.
Since 1988 "Feuer in den Alpen" (fires in the Alps) have been lit on a day in August on mountains so they can be seen from afar as an appeal for sustainable development of mountain regions.[6]
In theCzech Republic the festival called "Burning the Witches" (also Philip and Jacob Night,Walpurgis Night, orBeltane) takes place on the night between 30 April and 1 May. This is a very old and still observed folk custom and special holiday. On that night, people gather together, light bonfires, and celebrate the coming of spring. In many places people erectmaypoles.
The night between 30 April and 1 May was considered magical. The festival was probably originally celebrated when the moon was full closest to the day exactly between the spring equinox and summer solstice. People believed that on this night witches fly to theirSabbath, and indeed this is one of the biggest pagan holidays. People also believed, for example, in the opening of various caves treasures were hidden. The main purpose of this old folk custom was probably a celebration of fertility.
To protect themselves against witches, people lit bonfires in high places, calling these fires "Burning the Witches". Some people took to jumping over the fire to ensure youth and fertility. The ash from these fires supposedly had a special power to raise crops, and people also walked their cattle through the ashes to ensure fertility.
In Australia bonfires are rarely allowed in the warmer months due to fire danger. Legislation about bonfires varies between states, metropolitan and rural regions, local government areas, and property types.[7] For example, in urban areas ofCanberra bonfires may be lit around theKing's Official Birthday if local fire authorities are notified; however, they are banned the rest of the year.[8] Smaller fires such ascampfires and outdoorbarbecues are usually permitted outside of fire restriction periods. In the state of Queensland, the rural town of Killarney hosts an annual Bonfire night for the greater community; proceeds support the town's aged care facilities.
Due to their historic connection to Britain and Ireland, the province ofNewfoundland and Labrador has many communities that celebrate bonfire nights, particularlyGuy Fawkes Night; this is one of the times when small rural communities come together. In the province ofQuebec, many communities light bonfires on 24 June to celebrateSaint-Jean-Baptiste Day.
In France the bonfire celebratesJean le Baptiste during theFête de la Saint-Jean ("St John's Day"), first Saturday after the solstice, about 24 June. Like the other countries, it was a pagan celebration of thesolstice, ormidsummer, but Christianisation transformed it into a Catholic celebration.
In India particularly inPunjab, people gather around a bonfire and eat peanuts and sweets during the festival ofLohri to celebrate the winter solstice which occurred during the Indian month of Magh. People have bonfires on communal land. If there has been a recent wedding or a new born in the family, people will have a bonfire outside their house to celebrate this event. The festival falls in the second week of January every year. In the northeastern state ofAssam, the harvest festival ofBhogali Bihu is celebrated to mark the end of theharvest season in mid-January. In southern India, particularly inAndhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu andMumbai, the Bhogi Festival is celebrated on the last day of Maarkali, which is also the first day of the farming festival ofPongal. People collect unwanted items from their houses and throw them into a bonfire to celebrate. During the ten days ofVijayadashami, effigies ofRavana, his brotherKumbhakarna and sonMeghanad are erected and burnt by enthusiastic youths at sunset. Traditionally a bonfire on the day ofHoli marks the symbolic annihilation ofHolika thedemoness as described above.[9]
Chaharshanbe Suri is a fire jumping festival celebrated by Persian people, Kurdish people and some other ethnicities. The event takes place on the eve of the last Wednesday beforeNowruz. Loosely translated as Wednesday Light, from the wordsur, which means light in Persian, or more plausibly, considersur to be a variant ofsorkh (red) and take it to refer either to the fire itself or to the ruddiness (sorkhi), meaning good health or ripeness, supposedly obtained by jumping over it, is an ancient Iranian festival dating back to at least 1700 BCE of the early Zoroastrian era. Also called the Festival of Fire, it is a prelude to Nowruz, which marks the arrival of spring. The words Chahar Shanbeh mean Wednesday and Suri means red. Bonfires are lit to "keep the sun alive" until early morning. The celebration usually starts in the evening, with people making bonfires in the streets and jumping over them singing "zardi-ye man az toh, sorkhi-ye toh az man". The literal translation is, my yellow is yours, your red is mine. This is a purification rite. Loosely translated, this means you want the fire to take your pallor, sickness, and problems and in turn give you redness, warmth, and energy. There are Zoroastrian religious significance attached to Chahārshanbeh Suri and it serves as a cultural festival for Iranian and Iranic people.
Another tradition of this day is to make special Chaharshanbe Suri Ajil, or mixed nuts and berries. People wear disguises and go door to door knocking on doors as similar to Trick-or-treating. Receiving of the Ajeel is customary, as is receiving of a bucket of water.
Ancient Persians celebrated the last 5 days of the year in their annual obligation feast of all souls,Hamaspathmaedaya (Farvardigan or popularly Forodigan). They believed Faravahar, the guardian angels for humans and also the spirits of dead would come back for reunion. There are the seven Amesha Spenta, that are represented as the haft-sin (literally, seven S's). These spirits were entertained as honored guests in their old homes, and were bidden a formal ritual farewell at the dawn of the New Year. The festival also coincided with festivals celebrating the creation of fire and humans. In Sassanid period the festival was divided into two distinct pentads, known as the lesser and the greater Pentad, or Panji as it is called today. Gradually the belief developed that the 'Lesser Panji' belonged to the souls of children and those who died without sin, whereas 'Greater Panji' was truly for all souls.
In Iraq, Assyrian Christians light bonfires to celebrate theFeast of the Cross. In addition to the bonfire, every household traditionally hangs a lighted fire in the roof of their house.
Throughout Ireland bonfires are lit on the night of 31 October to celebrateHalloween[10] orSamhain. Bonfires are also held on 30 April, particularly inLimerick to celebrate the festival ofBealtaine and on St. John's eve, 23 June, to celebrateMidsummer's eve, particularly inCounty Cork where it is also known as 'Bonna Night'.[11]
InNorthern Ireland, bonfires are lit onHalloween, 31 October, and each 11 July, bonfires are lit by manyProtestant communities to celebrate the victory ofWilliamite forces at theBattle of the Boyne, which took place on 12 July 1690. This is often called the "Eleventh night". Bonfires have also been lit byCatholic communities on 9 August since 1972 to protest and commemorateInternment.
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In Israel, on the eve ofLag BaOmer, bonfires are lit on to commemorate theMishnaic sage RabbiShimon Bar Yochai who according to tradition died on Lag BaOmer. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is accredited with having composed theKabalistic work TheZohar (literally "The Shining" – hence the custom of lighting fire to commemorate him). The main celebration takes place at Rabbi Shimon's tomb onMount Meron in northern Israel, but all over the country bonfires are lit in open spaces. Linked by Modern Jewish tradition to theBar Kokhba Revolt against theRoman Empire (132–135 CE), Lag BaOmer is very popularly observed and celebrated as a symbol for the fighting Jewish spirit. As Lag Ba'Omer draws near, children begin collecting material for the bonfire: wood boards and planks, old doors, and anything else made of wood. On the night itself, families and friends gather round the fires and youths will burn their bonfires till daybreak.
InNortheast Italy the celebrationPanevin (in English "bread and wine"),Foghera andPignarûl is held on the evening ofEpiphany (5 January). A straw witch dressed with old clothes is placed on a bonfire and burned to ash. The witch symbolizes the past and the direction of the smoke indicates whether the new year is going to be good or bad.
The Northern ItalianLa vecchia ("the old lady") is a version of thewicker man bonfireeffigy, which is burned once a year as part of town festivals. As depicted in the filmAmarcord byFederico Fellini, it has a more pagan-Christian connotation when it is burned on Mid-Lent Thursday.
InAbbadia San Salvatore, a village in the south ofTuscany, bonfires calledfiaccole up to seven meters high are burned during Christmas Eve to warm up people around them waiting for the midnight, following a millenary tradition.
In Southern Italy, traditionally bonfires are lit in the night between 16 and 17 January, thought to be the darkest and longest night of the year. The celebration is also linked to the cult ofSaint Anthony The Great.
Every 16 August the ancient city ofKyoto holds theGozan no Okuribi, aBuddhist bonfire-based spectacle, which marks the end of the *O-Bon season.
The Luxembourgish town ofRemich annually holds a three-day-long celebration forCarnival (calledFuesend Karneval inLuxembourgish). The celebration of the Remich Fuesend Karneval celebrations concludes with theBuergbrennen, a bonfire that marks the end of winter. Such bonfires are also organised by others towns and villages throughout Luxembourg around the same time, although these only last one evening.
Bonfires in Nepal are taken almost synonymous with camp-fire. During winter months it is quite common to have a bonfire in hotels, resorts, and residential areas, as well as private properties.
Bonfires are also lit duringSiva ratri in the evening. This holiday is based on the lunar calendar and often falls during month of February.
InIceland, bonfires are traditional on New Year's Eve, and on 6 January, which is the last day of the Icelandic Christmas season.[citation needed] In Norway and Denmark,[citation needed] large bonfires are lit on 23 June to celebrateJonsok orSt Hansaften the evening before John the Baptist's birthday. As with many other traditions in Scandinavia, St. Hans is believed to have a pagan origin, the celebration of midsummer's eve.
In SwedenWalpurgis Night is celebrated on 30 April, and festivities include the burning of a bonfire. In Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania,Midsummer Eve is celebrated with large bonfires.[12]
InLithuania bonfires are lit to celebrateSt John's Eve (aka:Rasos (Dew Holiday)) during themidsummer festival. Bonfires may be lit to keep witches and evil spirits away.
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InPoland bonfires are traditionally and still enthusiastic burned duringFeast of Saints Peter and Paul,Pentecost day andSaint John Night asSobótki,[13]ognie świętojańskie[14](Śląsk,Małopolska,Podkarpacie),Palinocka (Warmia,Mazury,Kaszuby) orNoc Kupały (Mazowsze andPodlasie) on 23/24 June.On 23 and 24 June, according to ancient custom, an immense number of Polish persons of both sexes repaired to the banks of theSan (river),Vistula andOdra river, to consult Fate respecting their future fortunes, jumping through a fire on the Eve of Saint John's was a sure way to health. The leaping of the youths over fire (sobótka) must be a custom derived from remote antiquity.Jan Kochanowski, who died in 1584, mentions it in a song from an ancient tradition. Varro and Ovid relate, that in thePalilia, celebrated in honour of the goddessPales, on 20 April, the anniversary of the foundation ofRome, the young Romans leaped over burning bundles of hay. In modern Italy, this kind of saltation is continued by the name ofSabatina,[15] thoughPope Sergius III prohibited it.
InRomania, inArgeș County, a bonfire is lit on the night of 25 October every year, as a tradition said to be done since theDacians. It consists in burning of a tall tree, which resembles the body of a god. It is usually done on a high peak, to be seen from far away.
InBosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia,Serbia andSlovenia, bonfires are traditionally lit on the evening before 1 May, commemorating Labour Day[citation needed] . Bonfires are also being built on the eve of the Christian holiday Easter on so calledHoly Saturday and are lit next day early in the morning. This bonfires are calledvuzmenka, orvazmenka. The root,Vazam is the Serbo-Croatian word for Easter. Their burning symbolizes theResurrection of Jesus. In villages far from cities, this tradition is still active. Young men and children all gather on some plane remote from village and start building a bonfire by collecting logs of wood, or pruned branches fromvineyards andorchards. Bonfires are also lit on the evening beforeSaint George's Day on so calledJurjevo (in Croatia, on 24 April according toGregorian calendar) orĐurđevdan (in Serbia, on 6 May according toJulian calendar). Idea for all this bonfires are probably taken from old Slavic tradition where bonfires were lit to celebrate the arrival of Spring.[16]
In Russia, bonfires are traditionally burned on 17 November.[citation needed]
In theCzech Republic bonfires are also held on the last night of April and are called 'Phillip-Jakob's Night' (FilipoJakubská noc) or "Burning of the Witches" (pálení čarodějnic). They are considered to be historically linked withWalpurgis Night andBeltane.InSlovakia, bonfires are traditionally held on the night of St. John the Baptist, June 24th. These fires are lit on hillsides or in the centers of towns and villages. St. John's Night is legendary, as it is believed that on this night, the earth reveals its hidden treasures.
In Turkey bonfires are lit onKakava believed to be the awakening day of nature at the beginning of spring. Kakava is celebrated by theRomani people in Turkey on the night of 5–6 May.
In the United Kingdom and someCommonwealth countries bonfires are lit onGuy Fawkes Night[17] a yearly celebration held on the evening of 5 November to mark the failure of theGunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number ofCatholicconspirators, includingGuy Fawkes, attempted to destroy theHouse of Lords in London.
InNorthern Ireland bonfires are lit onHalloween, 31 October.[18] and each 11 July, bonfires are lit by manyProtestant communities to celebrate the victory ofWilliamite forces at theBattle of the Boyne,[19] which took place on 12 July 1690. This is often called the "Eleventh night". Bonfires have also been lit byCatholic communities on 9 August since 1972 to protest and commemorateInternment.[20]
Historically in England, some time before 1400, fires were lit aroundMidsummer as a wake in the vigil forSt John the Baptist.[2] Folk would awake in the evening, and make three manners of fire: one with only clean bones ("bonys") and no wood called a "bonnefyre", one with clean wood and no bones called a "wakefyre", and the third with both bones and wood, called "Saynt Ionys Fyre". Apparently the original wake fell into "lechery and gluttony", so the church deemed it instead as a fast.[2]
The annual rock and dance musicWickerman Festival takes place inKirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. Its main feature is the burning of a large woodeneffigy on the last night.[21] The Wickerman festival is inspired by the horror filmThe Wicker Man, a film itself inspired by the Roman accounts of the Celtic Druids ritual burning of a wicker effigy.
A ship is also burnt as part of the mid-winterUp Helly Aa festival.
In Biggar, Lanarkshire, a bonfire is lit on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) to celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of the New Year. The bonfire takes almost a month to build using whatever combustible materials can be found. It is lit by a senior citizen of the town who is accompanied to the bonfire site (which is by the Corn Exchange in the centre of the town) by the local pipe band and several torchbearers. The celebrations are attended by hundreds of drinking and dancing revellers. During the war years, when a bonfire wasn't allowed, a candle was lit in a biscuit tin to keep the tradition of "burnin' oot the auld year" alive.
InNew England, on the night before theFourth of July, towns competed to build towering pyramids, assembled fromhogsheads, barrels andcasks. They were lit at nightfall, to usher in the celebration. The highest were inSalem, Massachusetts, composed of as many as forty tiers of barrels. The practice flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, and can still be found in someNew England towns.[22]
On Christmas Eve in SouthernLouisiana bonfires are built along theMississippi Riverlevees to light the way forPapa Noël as he moves along the river in hispirogue (Cajuncanoe) pulled by eight alligators. This tradition is an annual event inSt. James Parish, Louisiana.[23]
(SeeAggie Bonfire)One of the oldest traditions atTexas A&M University involves the building of a bonfire by students to be burnt before their annual game againstThe University of Texas. The tradition began in 1909 as little more than a burning trash pile. Eventually students began clearing land in the area, by hand, to harvest thousands of logs needed for its construction. In 1969Aggie Bonfire set a Guinness world record for tallest bonfire at 109 feet. In 1999, there was anaccident where the stack collapsed during construction, killing 12 people and injuring 27 others. The accident led to the university to no longer sanction the building of Bonfire. Since 2002, the student-sponsored groupStudent Bonfire began building an annual bonfire in the spirit of the original.
Bonfires are used on farms, in large gardens andallotments to dispose of waste plant material that is not readilycomposted. This includes woody material, pernicious weeds, diseased material and material treated with persistentpesticides andherbicides. Such bonfires may be quite small but are often designed to burn slowly for several days so that wet and green material may be reduced to ash by frequently turning the unburnt material into the centre. Such bonfires can also deal with turf and other earthy material. The ash from garden bonfires is a useful source ofpotash and may be beneficial in improving the soil structure of some soils although such fires must be managed with safety in mind.[24] Garden and farm bonfires are frequentlysmoky and can cause local nuisance if poorly managed or lit in unsuitable weather conditions.[25]
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