Bonfire night fireworks to draw crowds to capital

Last year's fireworks were launched from a barge in Douglas Bay

Large crowds are expected to gather on the sea front of the Isle of Man's capital for a bonfire night fireworks display themed with "music from movies".

Douglas Council will start the event at19:00 GMT, with the celebrations on Harris Promenade focused around the area of the war memorial.

Mayor Natalie Byron-Teare said the annual display brought "a huge majority of the community together” in the city.

The fireworks will revert back to being launched from the beach this year, after issues that tide times caused led to them being set off from a barge in the bay in 2023.

Byron-Teare said: “Douglas is a huge bay, and with the tides the barge looked very far out in the bay, and so the display looked a lot smaller than we’d hoped.

“So this year’s it’s beach-based again, which hopefully will have a much better impact for those viewing," she added.

All ages catered for

Councillor Byron-Teare explained that the backing music from film themes had been chosen because it "hopefully will be enjoyed by everybody".

"Last year the music was a bit more modern, aimed maybe more towards the younger generation, but this year we feel that the movie theme covers everybody," she said.

The event will start with the traditional competition for the Best Guy effigy, held by the war memorial from 18:45.

Douglas Council have asked people not to bring pets or their own fireworks to the display, including sparklers.

People have also been advised to avoid Douglas and Onchan Head due around the time of the event due to issues with traffic congestion.