Brightest ever Big Burns Supper packed with fun for 5th birthday

The line-up for the fifth Big Burns Supper has been unveiled with headliners including Black Grape, Jason Byrne, The Beat and Eddi Reader.

The nine-day festival in Dumfries, from 22-30 January, will be overflowing with party spirit from start to finish and will bring thousands of people onto the streets for the annual Burns Carnival, which takes place on Sunday, 24 January.

Big Burns Supper 2016 has received support as part of the Scotland’s Winter Festivals events programme.

On the Bard’s birthday itself there will be the festival’s own fifth birthday party, featuring special guest performers, and a family Burns Supper for around 300 inside the mirror-lined Spiegeltent which is the event’s main venue.

Another major highlight of BBS 2016 is Le Haggis III which sees a triumphant return to Dumfries of the saucy and spectacular Caledonian cabaret after its award-winning run at the Edinburgh-Fringe. As ever it will be a feast of Scottish and international circus, aerial dance and music – featuring some of the country’s best young trad and folk musicians.

There will also be a strong emphasis on children’s entertainment with the arrival of Celtic Circus, a Spiegeltent show with acrobatic thrills and spills to delight a younger audience.

Dumfries children themselves take command for a series of By Kids activities. One will be the pop-up Salon 1962, where adults will have their nails and make-up done by enthusiastic Lochside Primary School pupils. The most daring will also have their hair cut!

Graham Main, Artistic Director, said:

“It’s our fifth birthday, so we want Big Burns Supper 2016 to be huge fun for everyone. It will be packed with great music, comedy and cabaret plus a fabulously colourful street carnival.

“We’re offering a really joyful mix of the current and the classic – and a great chance to dig out your Harrington, trilby and DMs.

“As one of Scotland’s fastest-growing winter events we are looking forward to welcoming thousands of people from all across Scotland, the rest of the UK, Ireland and beyond for an event which celebrates all that’s best in life.”

As a “thank you” to the Big Burns Supper’s many loyal supporters the festival will be bringing back some highly popular acts from previous years. These include the magnificent singer songwriter, and huge champion of Rabbie Burns, Eddi Reader and also the wonderful Inner Mongolian musicians of Anda Union.

There will be a new performance and bar area at the Spiegeltent where audiences will find themselves in the capable hands of Big Burns Supper 2016 Mistress of Ceremonies the ever-bonnie, if occasionally unshaven, Misschief Amor.

There will be a host of other superb shows from Irish vocalist Camille O’Sullivan, the Scots trad Treacherous Orchestra, comedian Andrew Maxwell and Irish folk act the Dublin Legends.

Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, said:

“The Big Burns Supper, which is now in its fifth year, is the perfect opportunity to celebrate our Scottish identity. I congratulate the festival organisers for another impressive performance line-up and I’d encourage friends, families and loved ones to come together to take part.

“The celebrations are part of the Scottish Government’s Winter Festivals programme which this year has been provided with a record £390,000 of funding to support 21 key cultural events in 15 local authority areas across the country.”

VisitScotland Regional Director Paula McDonald said:

“The Big Burns Supper has fast become a real favourite of our regional events calendar and it’s fantastic to see it attracting more and more visitors to the region every year. It’s a unique, exciting and vibrant celebration which embodies and befits our national Bard. The event is brimming with spirited character, spontaneity, irreverent humour and bawdy fun, and is underpinned by great music and story-telling. 

“With its superb line-up of talent and packed programme, next year’s Big Burns Supper promises to be bigger and better than ever before. It will definitely be an unmissable highlight of the New Year so I hope as many people as possible will come along and enjoy the party atmosphere in Dumfries throughout the festival’s nine days.”

Lesley Douglas, Principal Teacher of Lochside Primary School, said:

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the children and they are really excited about taking part in the carnival and in Big Burns Supper. It brings them a whole breadth of new opportunities and fits perfectly with the Curriculum for Excellence.”

Tickets for Big Burns Supper are now on sale at www.bigburnssupper.com and from the box office at 28 Munches Street, Dumfries or by calling 01387 271820.  Box Office is open from 9am – 5pm, Monday to Saturday.

Big Burns Supper is a registered charity and is funded by Holywood Trust, Robertson Trust, Scotland’s Winter Festival programme, and through Dumfries & Galloway Council’s event strategy, and sponsored by 8020 Communications, and Electric Theatre Workshop.

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Notes for editors

The Beat: Birmingham’s massive Ska sensations, relive Mirror in the Bathroom and Can’t Get Used to Losing You. See http://www.thebeatofficial.com.

Black Grape: It’s Great When Your Straight … Yeah. Freewheeling rock from Shaun Ryder in the 20^th anniversary year of their first album http://www.blackgrapeofficial.com.

Jason Byrne: Twenty years a clown – help celebrate with the man called the outright king of live comedy by The Times. See http://www.jasonbyrne.ie. 

Eddi Reader: As her music shows, she loves Rabbie Burns and Rabbie would have loved her, one of Scotland’s finest. See http://www.eddireader.co.uk.

Camille: Raunchy, dangerous and seductive – she is one of the most gifted performers around. See http://www.camilleosullivan.com.

The Treacherous Orchestra: Their new album Grind has been smashing down the barriers of trad, bringing awe to audiences everywhere. See http://www.treacherousorchestra.com.

Andrew Maxwell: London-based Irishman with faultless comedy credentials – just see him. http://www.andrewmaxwellcomedian.com.

Dublin Legends: After the Dubliners came the Dublin Legends were formed. The lads will bring you classics from The Irish Rover to Dirty Old Town. See http://www.andrewmaxwellcomedian.com.

About BBS

Last year Big Burns Supper and the carnival entertained audiences of 30,000.

BBS provides a showcase for quality production and artistic ambition centred on the Burns Night celebration, creating a large community-wide event for visitors and locals alike.

The 2015 festival will run for nine days, from 22^nd to 30^th January 2016.

The Big Burns Supper is based at The Electric Theatre Workshop, 28 Munches Street, Dumfries, DG1 1ET. Get in touch by calling 01387 271820 or email hello@bigburnssupper.com

Last Year’s Carnival statistics:

• Around 3,000 people in the Carnival procession

• 800 lanterns – most made by local residents

• Five lanterns specially commissioned from local artists

• Five decorated floats two with large interactive puppets

• Six pipe and samba bands.

About Scotland’s Winter Festivals

Scots and Scots at heart, both at home and abroad come together to celebrate Scotland’s unique heritage and distinctive culture through Scotland’s Winter Festivals - St Andrew’s Day, Christmas, Hogmanay and Burns celebrations.

Scotland is very much open for business in the winter months and there’s a lot happening to celebrate St Andrew’s Day, Christmas, Hogmanay and Burns Night.

Anyone can join in the celebration in the winter events and celebrations across the country.  Find out what’s happening near you at www.scotland.org/winter

A vibrant winter event programme brings together people from all over the world to celebrate Scotland’s modern culture and traditions through the best of Scottish music, arts, food and drink, innovation and entertainment.

Scotland is a year round destination for visitors, welcoming over 15 million people to our shores.  St Andrew’s Day, Christmas, Hogmanay and Burns Night offer another reason to come and celebrate either with us here in Scotland or around the world.

About Robert Burns

Burns, our national bard, is one of Scotland’s favourite icons encapsulating the very essence that makes Scots Scottish – creative, proud and confident.

Robert Burns, or ‘Rabbie’ as he is affectionately known, was born in Alloway, South Ayrshire, in 1732. He began writing poetry and songs at an early age and became famous across Scotland for his writings.

After his death at the age of just 37, Rabbie’s works became internationally renowned and to this day, people from all corners of the world sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ to bring in the New Year.

Every year on Burns’ birthday, 25 January, Scots and Scots at heart from across the globe celebrate his life in a variety of traditional ways, including addressing the haggis, toasting the lassies and a reciting of the Selkirk Grace.

More information about how to celebrate Burns’ Day and the life of the Bard himself can be found at www.scotland.org/burns.

For BBS 2016 media information contact Matthew Shelley on 07786 704299 or at MJHShelley@hotmail.co.uk