About Heathfield & District Bonfire Society
Heathfield & District Bonfire Society is a volunteer-led community organisation representing Heathfield and the surrounding area in East Sussex.
The current society was reformed in 2018 by a group of local Bonfire enthusiasts who wanted to restore a torchlit celebration to Heathfield and strengthen the sense of community within the town.
That ambition quickly became reality. In 2019, Heathfield held its first official Bonfire Night in 62 years, returning flaming torches, procession, bonfire and fireworks to the town after a remarkably long absence.
Since then, Heathfield & District Bonfire Society has developed a distinctive identity of its own, combining green, white and black Smuggler stripes with colourful Day of the Dead Pioneers, while remembrance of the Heathfield Martyrs has become an important part of the society's traditions.
Rekindled in 2018
The modern story of Heathfield & District Bonfire Society began in 2018.
A group of local enthusiasts came together with the aim of bringing a traditional Bonfire celebration back to Heathfield and giving the town its own representation at celebrations elsewhere during the season.
The society's founders included Steve Thomas, Dave Shoebridge, Thomas Keep, Rachel Keep, Ken Brewster and Halina Keep. Several remain closely involved with the organisation today.
From the beginning, the society was intended to be about more than simply organising one evening of fireworks.
Its founders specifically wanted to enhance the sense of community in Heathfield, while creating an organisation capable of supporting local charities, groups and causes.
Bonfire Returns After 62 Years
The society achieved one of its biggest ambitions the following year.
In 2019, an official Bonfire celebration returned to Heathfield for the first time in 62 years.
For a newly reformed society, bringing a major public event back after such a long absence was a considerable achievement.
The return meant rebuilding a tradition rather than simply continuing an existing annual event. Members had to establish the organisation, recruit volunteers, raise money and develop the equipment, costumes and procedures needed to put Heathfield back on the Bonfire calendar.
The celebration has continued to develop since then, with visiting societies joining Heathfield & District Bonfire Society for its torchlit procession through the town.
Green, White and Black Smugglers
The society's principal striped costume is its green, white and black Smuggler jumper, worn with white trousers, black boots and a red spotted neckerchief.
Members can also wear a red hat or black bowler or top hat, while officers and captains have the option of adding a red sash.
These are described by the society as the long-standing Heathfield colours, giving members an easily recognisable appearance when representing the town at celebrations elsewhere.
The society takes the details seriously. It even specifies the wool shades used for knitted jumpers and asks that the stripes on adult jumpers are approximately two inches wide.
Alongside the Smugglers, however, Heathfield & District Bonfire Society has developed a much more colourful Pioneer tradition.
Day of the Dead Pioneers
The First Pioneers of Heathfield & District Bonfire Society are Day of the Dead – a particularly striking costume and one for which the society has provided a clear explanation.
The Mexican Día de Muertos tradition takes place around 1 and 2 November, coinciding almost perfectly with the Bonfire season.
It is a celebration in which families remember and honour relatives who have died, traditionally using colourful imagery, flowers, food and gatherings rather than treating remembrance as an entirely sombre occasion.
Heathfield & District Bonfire Society felt that combination of remembrance and celebration made Day of the Dead particularly appropriate for the society.
Most importantly, the choice allows members to remember the Heathfield Martyrs and others commemorated during the Bonfire season, while doing so through a colourful and distinctive costume. The society also wanted a Pioneer identity that was not already being used officially by another society.
The result is deliberately bold.
Costumes can include sugar-skull designs, marigolds, colourful skeletons, La Catrina-inspired dress and elaborate Mexican-style outfits. The society encourages members to make the costume as bright and flamboyant as possible.
Together with the green, white and black Smugglers, the Day of the Dead Pioneers have become one of the defining visual features of the revived Heathfield & District Bonfire Society.
Remembering the Heathfield Martyrs
The remembrance element of the Pioneer costume has a particularly important local connection.
Heathfield & District Bonfire Society commemorates the Heathfield Martyrs, Margery Morris and her son James Morris of Cade Street.
Both were put to death in Lewes in 1557 during the Marian persecutions because of their Protestant faith.
Their story provides Heathfield with its own direct connection to the Sussex Martyrs commemorated by societies across the county.
The society continues to hold events remembering the Heathfield Martyrs, ensuring that the names of Margery and James Morris remain part of the town's modern Bonfire tradition.
That also gives additional meaning to the society's Day of the Dead Pioneers: the costume was deliberately selected as a colourful way of honouring and remembering those commemorated by the society.
Heathfield Bonfire Night
Heathfield's annual celebration has grown considerably since Bonfire returned to the town.
Members of Heathfield & District Bonfire Society are joined by visiting societies for a large torchlit procession, bringing together flaming torches, banners, bands, Smugglers and Pioneers.
The 2025 celebration, for example, was expected to welcome more than 25 visiting Bonfire societies to Heathfield.
That represents impressive growth for an event that had been absent for more than six decades before the modern society brought it back.
The annual celebration has become the most visible expression of what the founders set out to achieve in 2018: putting Heathfield back on the Bonfire calendar and bringing people together through a major community event.
Remembrance Beyond Bonfire
Remembrance is not restricted to the annual Bonfire celebration.
Heathfield & District Bonfire Society has also become involved in major national commemorations held within the local community.
For the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024, the society worked with Heathfield & Waldron Parish Council to organise a community event at Cade Street Recreation Ground in Old Heathfield.
The evening included music and a wreath-laying ceremony before Heathfield joined communities around the country in lighting a commemorative beacon.
The society followed this with events marking the 80th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day in 2025, including another beacon-lighting event and a VJ Day commemoration at Jubilee Park.
These activities have helped establish Heathfield & District Bonfire Society as a wider community organisation rather than one that appears only for its own autumn celebration.
Fundraising Throughout the Year
Putting on Heathfield Bonfire requires fundraising long before the first torch is lit.
The society organises events throughout the year to raise money and bring members of the community together.
Recent activities have included quiz nights and bingo nights, alongside other social and fundraising events. In 2026, for example, the society held a Bingo Night at Horam Village Hall and organised a summer Quiz Night.
The society has even taken part in stoolball, adding one of Sussex's most distinctive traditional sports to its summer activities.
These events provide essential support for the society while keeping members active and connected outside the autumn season.
Supporting the Local Community
Heathfield & District Bonfire Society was established with a clear community purpose.
The organisation operates on a not-for-profit basis, with surplus money intended to return to the local community through support for charities, groups and good causes.
That principle has been part of the society's identity since its reformation.
Bonfire provides the spectacle, but the organisation behind it is designed to have a positive role within Heathfield throughout the year.
In 2025 the organisation took another step in its development, becoming Heathfield and District Bonfire Society Community Interest Company, formally incorporated on 30 September.
Membership
Heathfield & District Bonfire Society actively welcomes new members.
There are adult, junior and family memberships, allowing children and families to become involved alongside individual adult members.
Members can wear the society's green, white and black Smuggler stripes or become part of the colourful Day of the Dead Pioneer group, take part in Heathfield's own procession and represent the town at celebrations elsewhere.
There is also plenty of work behind the scenes.
The society has captains responsible for areas including torches, banners, bonfire, firesite, barrels, fiery pieces, tableau and ranks, illustrating just how many different jobs are involved in staging the annual celebration.
For a society only reformed in 2018, encouraging new members – particularly younger members – is an important part of building a tradition capable of lasting for generations.
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