Vocal Voices

Leeds normally has six council run bonfires and firework displays with attendances upwards of 150,000 people, but they have all been cancelled.

The reason:

For the bonfire and firework events this would mean that everyone attending provide evidence of their COVID status either through vaccination, testing or natural immunity.

Utter twonk! These displays are in parks, the open air, obviously! People sit or stand around in family or small groups, the wind is blowing. They are not crammed into a nightclub or sports stadium. This is snowflakeism gone mad! Beaches and parks have been open all summer, with huge crowds - no problem.

What we will now get are many hundreds of garden bonfires and displays with the attendant risk of some of them getting out of control, property damage and personal injuries - some serious.

Does seem crazy. Our town's bonfire / fireworks is usually held up the rugby club and gets a good attendance, but nothing about it so far.
I think, locally, insurance costs have been a concern in the past though, and I wonder if Covid has exacerbated that?
The town's processional October carnival has been cancelled for the second year running I believe, although there are some pf the peripheral events taking place.

Logic suggests that eventually bonfire night will be banned. This might be the start of that process.
After all, there's no sense in banning gas boilers and Petrol engines and allowing thousands of smoke and flame belching bonfires, even if it is only one week in the year.
Same goes for wood burning stoves.
When this does come about people may start to question the changes that climate change policies will demand from them.

If it's cancelled because of covid problem
Why is football rugby and large crowds allowed?
We are becoming increasingly told what we can and can't do
We have lost our freedom to make our own mind up

Quite, Saundra!

The displays are usually held on the Friday nearest the 5th, have been since about the mid 1980s ish.

It has been noticeable down the years that they have reduced the nuisance of 'street' fireworks being set off. In the 60s and 70s when they were there every day after school till late evening for three weeks before the 5th Nov.

My main concern is that we will go back to unregistered bonfires and all the problems they created.

They could be just wanting to save money I suppose by not paying for fireworks.

Councils are increasingly miserable sods though. The rude comedian Roy "Chubby" Brown keeps getting his shows cancelled by councils refusing to let him use their venues. Sheffield council are the latest ones, using the excuse that Chubby Brown does not "represent the values" of Sheffield. What does that even mean?
Besides the fact that the council are po faced hypocrites.

Attach some councillors to rockets with a "No Return " label attached.