Big Burns Supper is spreading its magic in 2025, supporting community Burns Suppers right across Dumfries and Galloway.
Meanwhile, in its home base of Dumfries, as well as hosting the world’s largest Burns Supper at Loreburn Hall, it is staging a stunning light show featuring five incredible installations as part of a town-wide trail.
These installations, using light, sound, and projection, will showcase hidden places in Dumfries like never before. Visitors can start wherever they wish and explore in any order, sites include Burns Mausoleum, Greyfriars Church and Dumfries High Street.
Big Burns Supper celebrates the life and legacy of Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, and is now the UK’s largest winter fringe festival.
There will be 150 events at more than 30 venues – including cabaret, comedy, music and entertainment – from January 17 to February 2.
Graham Main, executive producer and founder of Big Burns Supper, said: “We’re thrilled to be bringing our unique programming to venues beyond Dumfries. Big Burns Supper is all about community, accessibility and making Burns relevant to a new audience. This wider reach helps us achieve that.”
The community suppers, all on Burns Night, January 25, are being held in Stranraer, Newton Stewart, Kirkcubright, Corsock, Holywood, Glencaple, Moffat, Langholm and Dumfries itself. Venues include community halls, pubs and an arts centre. Each has a theme, punk for example in Moffat.
They are supported by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Appropriately, one of the venues is Ellisland Farm, just outside Dumfries, where Burns lived and produced some of his greatest work.
Joan McAlpine, project director of the Robert Burns Ellisland Museum and Farm, said, “It’s exciting to be inviting the community in to celebrate a Burns Supper in the barn that Burns built. This is very much in the spirit of the Big Burns Supper, rolling out Scottish culture and traditions to everyone.
“It used to be the case that you could only attend a Burns Supper as a member of a club. This means all ages and backgrounds can celebrate our national bard.”
Big Burns Supper is also capitalising on what has been an extraordinary year for sightings of the Northern Lights.
Graham Main said: “It’s going to be spectacular. The last year has seen a major uptick in the solar activity that brings about the aurora borealis and we have collected superb images from all over Scotland. It will be a real talking point.”
The sound and light show is funded by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland.
Rebecca Edser, Head of EventScotland, added: “Big Burns Supper’s diverse programme of performances and events celebrating the life and work of Robert Burns is a wonderful showcase of a key part of Scotland’s cultural heritage.
“The inclusion of the brand-new Northern Lights, supported through our National Events Programme, will provide further opportunities for visitors and locals to immerse themselves in the life and work of Scotland’s national bard through this immersive light show.”
Big Burns Supper had to be cancelled in 2024 because of funding issues but is set to have a major impact when it returns in 2025.
David Hope-Jones, chief executive of the South of Scotland Destination Alliance, sees it as vital to the region’s visitor economy.
He said: “We help coordinate dozens of businesses, organisations and local groups to better leverage Burns tourism in Dumfriesshire.
“Big Burns Supper is an essential part of this and a fantastic asset for the South of Scotland. Without fail, it finds new, innovative, engaging and disruptive ways of inspiring each new generation to discover Burns.
“And, by bringing new visitors into our region through January and February, it helps potentially hundreds of local businesses through what is otherwise a hugely challenging time of year.”
The full programme for Big Burns Supper can be found here.
