You can still buy all sorts of fireworks in UK - bangers, riackets, Roman Candles, Goblin Moines, etc, etc. When I was a kid, these were just for November 5th (Guy Fawkes Day, celebrating the burnig of the stake of the catholic terrorist who tried to blow up King James I of England (& VI of Scotland)and Parliament - almost enough to make me convert from atheism to catholicism!

But, increasingly, fireworks are moving into the hands of professionals who put on slendid firework shows, lasting half an hour and getting through several thousnad pounds-worth of gunpowder and chemicals which pollute the atmosphere as much as a motorway with four solid lanes of traffic for an hour.

I'm immortal until proven otherwise