There's nothing quite like a good old fashioned ‘burning in effigy' to start off a celebration.

In fact the Guy Fawkes celebration held at the Orangeville Fairgrounds on Saturday, November 3, had it all.

There was a parade led by a torch carrying mob, a drummer to keep the pace, and Guy Fawkes trussed up and being carried to his demise in an hand-pulled wooden cart.

It was just like 17th century London all over again – except the ‘mob' was just a group of people out to celebrate an old English tradition and have a really big bonfire and have some fun. And no one got tossed in the fire.

This was the third time that Guy Fawkes day has been celebrated in Orangeville.

What started out as a small celebration in a backyard by UK expats got so popular they decided it was time to move it to a larger venue.

“I'm from the UK originally, I've been in Canada for ten years,” explained event organizer Sharon Edmonds. “This started as a backyard party and it got too big at home. We had 150 people in my back garden. This is our third annual Guy Fawkes day. We've got a bus up from Toronto. We've got a band, we're going to have a bonfire, fireworks, and we're going to have fun.”

Guy Fawkes day is a U.K. tradition that started after a failed plot to assassinate the king and blow up parliament with a lot of gunpowder in 1605. The plot was foiled, Fawkes arrested, and eventually paid for his crime at the gallows.

What better way to celebrate that death of a treasonous wretch that to have a big party and a fire?

“People throughout London said “long live the king' and they all lit bonfires because that's what you did in London when you celebrated,” Ms. Edmonds said. “People threw effigies of Guy Fawkes on the fire. Brits love their tradition. This is the big night in the U.K. It's a community event.”

The event was also a fundraiser in support of the Headwaters Health Care Centre Foundation.

The fire went well, Guy Fawkes got toasted, and the evening was lit up by fireworks.

It couldn't have been a better way to celebrate an old tradition.