Skinningrove Bonfire

It’s a regular practice all around the country to mark Bonfire Night with a conflagration, but the event at Skinningrove was in a class of its own and deserves a special mention. Since 1982 up to 2019 the local firestarters built a spectacularly large bonfire on the beach and each year a different theme from local history was chosen to inspire the builders. It was usually held on 5th November each year, even when it fell on a weekday – but when 5th was a Sunday it moved to Saturday 4th instead. You could expect a large crowd, lots of fireworks and a huge pyre!

Helpful Hints

In 2022 the event was cancelled for safety reasons and it has now been confirmed that it won’t be happening in future.

It was a free family-friendly event (though you could donate to bucket collectors to help ensure it  would happen the next year!) and could be watched from Skinningrove seafront or from the Cliffs nearby at Carlin Howe. You needed to arrive early, particularly when it fell on a weekend, as there would be be road closures. There is a small carpark in the village but you might have  wanted to do what we did and park at nearby Loftus, then walk in (it took around half an hour and it helped if you have a torch!). In 2019 the local council ran a shuttle bus park-and-ride service which had significant teething troubles owing to the narrow roads becoming blocked by parked cars- you needed to keep an eye on the event Facebook page for advice on where to park, and allow lots of extra time as the event was growing larger and the roads and parking spaces filled up quickly. The village has hard surfaces to walk on so you didn’t need wellies for this bonfire – and the distance of the fire across the harbour meant there was little danger of getting set alight by sparks! Ultimately this event was a victim of its own success as it grew too large for the roads to cope with safely.

Photos are from 2018 when the theme was Wintergrove and Santa made an appearance!

In cases of extreme weather the event may be postponed, but has only been cancelled twice due to flooding, and twice for covid – keep up-to-date by checking the event’s Facebook page which will include any last minute advice.

Click here for the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Skinningrove-Bonfire-115877218470018/