Food and drink will play a central role when Big Burns Supper returns to Dumfries in the new year, not least at Burns Night Live on January 25.
The UK’s largest winter fringe festival has a busy programme of cabaret, comedy, music and entertainment from January 17 to February 2.
Among the highlights are three ‘Supper Clubs’ at The Press in High Street featuring delicious food and drink alongside top-class music.
Paris is Burning, on January 18, sees Sylvain Philippe provide a unique cabaret experience to take you through a century of Parisian chanson.
On January 30 Hersh Dagmarr deconstructs the songs of The Pet Shop Boys and transports them to Weimar Berlin in his new show, Indefinite Leave to Remain.
And at Wall to Wall Bowie, on January 31, acclaimed pianist Janette Mason and vocalist David McAlmont present fresh interpretations of the songs of David Bowie with new arrangements and jazz twists.
The festival’s climax is Burns Night Live, at Loreburn Hall on January 25, billed as the ‘biggest Burns Night celebration in the world’. Those attending can tuck into a traditional Burns supper of haggis, neeps and tatties but if you can’t make it in person the event is streamed live on YouTube and Facebook.
Graham Main, executive producer and founder of Big Burns Supper, said: “We’re really excited by the quality and breadth of this year’s programme. With 150 events at more than 30 venues, there truly is something for everyone.
“Big Burns Supper is about celebrating the life and work of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, but not in a way that’s dry or academic.
“Our aim is to create a festival that’s accessible and inclusive, bringing Burns to a wider audience and showing that he’s as relevant today as he’s ever been.”
Red Bus Bistro, which runs gastro tours around Edinburgh and Glasgow in an adapted London Routemaster bus, is bringing its double-decker to Big Burns Supper on January 25 and 26 with ‘Burns Supper on a Bus’.
Leaving from the Burns Statue, passengers can enjoy authentic fare while taking in sites associated with Burns.
Evening tours, for over-18s, offer on-board entertainment and a traditional Burns supper, or vegetarian alternative, washed down with a dram. Family-friendly daytime trips without whisky have haggis pies instead of the supper.
Still on whisky, the renowned taster Professor Robertson Wellen, who has more than 17,000 followers on his Pour1malt Instagram channel, leads two tutored tastings at Ferintosh Guest House, in Lovers Walk, on January 25.
Tickets are £15 for the whisky tastings, from £15 to £55 for the bus tours, £55 for the supper clubs and £50 or £55 for Burns Night Live.
Book all the events and tours at: https://bigburnssupper.com/
