Fireworks Should Be Banned.

Why anyone would pay to watch fireworks is beyond my comprehension. Is it like theatre in that they’re more spectacular in person than on a TV screen? Actually quite the opposite I suspect. My worst NYE ever was the year I was dragged into the centre of London to stand on a bridge to watch them, then spent the next two hours trying to get home through a sea of tourists.

Public sale of fireworks has been banned here for many, many years.
Not sure if it was safety issues, fire concerns or environmental pollution controls that killed them off.
When I was a child we did have cracker night ( although ours was on the Queens Birthday - we don't do Guy Fawkes) and I remember my brothers chasing each other with roman candles and blowing up ants nests with penny bungers.

Well, bless your island then for being an island.

Germany doesn't do Bonfire Night obviously, but fireworks/crackers, etc. will be on sale to the public from 29 Dec to 31 Dec for NYE fireworks. The stuff available in the stores has some sort of official stamp of approval (because Germany loves nothing more than a bit of bureaucracy) and is fairly harmless. So what do people do to get more bang for their buck? They "import" illegal stuff by the car boot load from Eastern Europe. It's just a quick drive over the border after all. And that stuff is loud and awful.

I'm ambivalent about it all. Living on the fourth floor in a big city, I get quite a prime view over the fireworks all over town from my balcony which I do enjoy, but I can also happily live without it all and something like "NYE on Times Square" (or indeed Central London) is the stuff of nightmares for me. That said, if there was a ban on private sales, I'm sure it would only increase the smuggling of illegal and potentially much more harmful/dangerous stuff, so I'd rather they keep selling the somewhat safe German stuff to families with kids, etc.

Yup, I don't remember if/when it was free but the big one in Cooper's field has been expensive for years. Some friends and I considered going this year, but instead opted for the 'save ourselves the money and stay warm' option instead. 

I would totally ban it too.

I live very close to Poland (the border is actually right behind my apartment building) so I always get to deal with those awful polish firecrackers that people like to smuggle.
Those things sound like bombs and a lot of people are blowing off their hands or fingers every year. Seriously, I couldn’t care less. That’s natural selection at its best. But I really hate the noise...

I have been celebrating New Years in London for many, many years now and I’m always amazed at how calm everything is.

Celebrating New Years in Berlin always felt like war. Stupid people throwing firecrackers at everything and everyone. I remember those days when we had to run to cross the street to not get hurt. Horrible... I can’t wait to get away from all of that after Christmas each year...

Logic would not prevail in that situation. People would stockpile and that has the potential to be far more dangerous storing them in bulk improperly. It’s all or nothing I’d say.

They could probably be a little shorter, but there are already restrictions on when fireworks can be legally sold:

15 October to 10 November

26 to 31 December

Three days before Diwali and Chinese New Year

Jaysus did the things used to be that loud? last night we could hear them over our choir rehearsal like the Blitz was happening outside (and we aren't a quiet bunch).

You know who hasn’t got a sense of fun? The misogynistic pricks who report posts made in good fun.

For anyone so stupid not to realise obviously I didn’t actually want anyone to be caught in a fire...but given Bonfire Night is about biting Catholic’s one would have thought a jest about a Tory building burning down would be taken as intended (we’ve said worse about tories here)

Also concerning (as this will be no doubt deleted too) is the number of sexist, abusive posts women on this board report which never even get a response. Very telling indeed, as are the abusive members allowed to return....while a tongue in cheek joke gets immediate action. Message received moderators. Message received.

When I saw your original post, while not having a problem with it and recognising the intended tone, I immediately thought, this'll be trouble. 

I'm not aware of the misogynistic posts referred to but disquieted to learn they exist, have been complained about but not removed.

So the Admin of the board refuse to explain what was offensive about my post. And to respond to the ongoing concerns of female members of the board about the casual use of offensive language towards women.

Utterly disgusted.