Bonfire nights are being cancelled across the UK

Across the UK, many major cities have cancelled their big Bonfire Night celebrations due to the cost of living crisis.

This year it'll be harder to 'remember remember the 5th of November', even though it actually falls on a Saturday this time around, meaning Bonfire Night events would actually have been on Bonfire Night.

However, with budgets tightening, many city councils have regretfully decided that they can't afford to put on a big event when they're struggling to find money for the basic services they provide.

Last week, Manchester City Council said a mix of factors including rising costs and safety risks meant they wouldn't be putting on big fireworks displays.

Yesterday (18 October), Nottingham City Council announced they'd 'reluctantly' decided they couldn't afford it any more due to rising costs and stretched budgets.

Liverpool, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, Norwich and Dundee are all also not putting on events for Bonfire Night.

London's Hackney Council also said they were calling off their fireworks display thanks to a mixture of 'rising inflation and cost pressures'.

E.J.Westmacott/Alamy Stock Photo

For some cities the last time they put on a Bonfire Night event was back in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.

While they attract crowds of up to tens of thousands, they're expensive events to put on and there are a whole host of safety concerns involved with getting everyone to stand around a fire while setting off a bunch of explosives.

If there's one positive to glean from this then maybe it's that some pets won't go scared this Bonfire Night, as the poor things often get badly spooked by the noisy fireworks in November.

Meanwhile, a big downside might be people putting on their own illegal displays which are much more dangerous to locals.

Considering how punishing everyone's energy bills have become and the risk that Brits could suffer from blackouts throughout the winter the national outlook is not a jolly one at the moment.

Energy bills are high, inflation is shooting up through the roof and people are relying on extra payments from the government to avoid the cost of their bills from becoming too much to handle.

Ian Littlewood/Alamy Stock Photo

Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, said people should keep a close eye on how much their bill rises by and suggested using online calculators to work out what you ought to be paying.

He also recommended that people who thought their bills were going up by too much should call up their energy firms to discuss it, pointing out people had a right to have their direct debits lowered if energy companies couldn't justify the price rises.