Frequently asked questions

1) Who is in charge of the event?

The Lewes Bonfire celebrations are part of a long running tradition and have developed over many years.

There is no single organiser for the event which presents challenges when considering crowd management through the town.

Each Bonfire Society parades through the town to their chosen sites for firework displays. They take responsibility for safely managing their fire sites and their actual processions. 

The safety of the overall event is therefore the primary concern of emergency services and local authorities who make up the multi-agency group.

2) Are the travel restrictions really necessary?

We believe this is an appropriate and proportionate response to the risks involved in Lewes Bonfire, particularly considering its lasting popularity and the fact the event was cancelled last year due to Covid restrictions.

The multi-agency group has considered a number of factors including an independent crowd safety review, carried out during the 2016 event when there were fewer attendees due to a train strike. 

It concluded that:

“Left unchanged, there is a very high likelihood of an incident occurring that could result in serious injury of death to one of more people in this event”

Controlling the number of people at the event will help us look after everyone involved.

3) The event has passed without serious incident for several years – do you really need to put so many measures in place?

Every year we have a number of injuries and incidents which emergency service have to deal with, so it is clear we cannot be complacent. The measures which are put in place are carefully considered and their impact assessed. We believe the actions we have taken have helped keep Lewes Bonfire as safe as possible. We review our planning around the event each year and have taken into account the fact that last year’s cancellation due to Covid restrictions and the fact 5 November falls on a Friday is likely to make it more popular this year.

4) Why do train travellers and road users have to be affected?

We are aware that there has been a change in working patterns with more people able to work from home and hope that this means fewer people will be inconvenienced. However we accept that there will still be an impact on train passengers and road users who are not planning to attend the event. The decision to bring in travel restrictions has been made in the best interests of safety. We hope that those who are inconvenienced will understand that and have time to make alternative arrangements where possible. 

5) How many people have been hurt at the event?

Even one injury is one too many. Since 2010, 896 injuries were reported.

In 2019, (the last year the event happened) around 55 people were recorded as being treated by South East Coast Ambulance Service and St John Ambulance for injuries, the vast majority of which were relatively minor. This is unacceptable. Many of these were hurt on the procession routes and by bangers or other fireworks.

Over-crowded streets make it harder for emergency services to reach those in need of help.

6) How will you keep people updated about the trains?

These pages will be updated with any changes.

We will have lots of posters and station announcements telling people that the trains won’t stop at Lewes and police officers and additional staff at Brighton station to spot obvious partygoers who haven’t heeded the message. We simply can’t run this sort of operation at the smaller stations and the safest approach to avoid public order offences is to close these stations.

7) Can train stations re-open later in the evening?

Lewes

With Lewes station reopening later in the evening it could lead large numbers of people to arrive at the event earlier or by other methods of transport relying on the rail service to take them home. This does not satisfy the requirement to reduce the number of people attending the event and might lead to over-crowding on the station.

Other Stations

The question was raised about the outer stations that are closing (Cooksbridge, Glynde, Southease and Falmer) reopening later in the evening.  Reopening these stations would introduce the risk of large numbers of people leaving the event early in order to catch a train. Although a few miles from Lewes it is not inconceivable that people could walk to these stations once the processions in the town are ending. This introduces an unpredictable crowd dynamic in the town and could lead to large numbers of people arriving at multiple stations that are not equipped to cope with large crowds. This also introduces a new risk – that of pedestrians using country roads late at night and in the dark – which we know can lead to injuries and worse.

The frequency of trains at these outer stations is less than Lewes and if large numbers of people congregate waiting for limited trains there may be issues around their wellbeing (e.g. because of cold/wet weather) or there could even be disagreements or unrest which may require emergency services to attend, whose priority is in and around the town of Lewes. An infrequent train service may also lead people to consider trespassing and walking along the railway line.

If the rail service suffered an unexpected problem on the evening meaning the rail service was suspended then the above problems also apply with large crowds gathered in remote locations.

The option to have trains “set down only” at these stations is not realistic with it conceivable that people will still attempt to board trains in the knowledge that they must stop and the doors must open.