Tar barrels are carried and burned during Ottery St Mary’s famous Bonfire Night tradition.
Ottery St Mary is a town in Devon, England, known for an annual 5 November event in which participants carry flaming tar barrels through the streets. The custom is associated with local public houses, whose teams carry the heavy barrels on their shoulders after the containers have been prepared and set alight.
The tradition is separate from the basic national story of Guy Fawkes Night, although it takes place on the same date and commemorates the failure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot. Its exact origins are not completely certain, and accounts connect it with older local fire customs as well as Bonfire Night.
The event is physically demanding and attracts large crowds. Safety arrangements and route controls are important because the barrels are burning objects carried through a populated town. “Tar barrels” refers to the distinctive object, not to ordinary logs used in a conventional bonfire.