The Big Burns Supper Festival (Big Burns Supper) is an international Scottish music festival and performing arts festival of music,

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

which takes place annually in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

in south Scotland every January. The eleven-day festival celebrates

Burns Night A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night ( sc ...

( Scots: Burns Nicht) which is one of Scotland's key national events celebrating the life of Robert Burns through a gathering of friends and family which is known as a Burns Supper. A Burns Supper is part of Scottish Culture dating back to the 17th Century. The festival in

is thought to be the largest event of its type in the world attracting over 26,000 people per year and takes place at the festival village which includes the

Famous Spiegeltent A spiegeltent (Dutch for "mirror tent", from '' spiegel''+'' tent'') is a large travelling tent, constructed from wood and canvas and decorated with mirrors and stained glass, intended as an entertainment venue. Originally built in Belgium du ...

. The festival is the birthplace of Le Haggis, a Cabaret show, was created in 2013 as a way to modernise Burns Supper's and has included guest appearances from

Ursula Martinez Ursula Martinez (born 1966) is a British theatre maker, performer and director. She grew up in South London, the daughter of an English father and Spanish mother, both teachers. After graduating in French and Theatre at Lancaster University, sh ...

Miss Behave Amy Saunders also known as Miss Behave, is a British-born producer, performer, comedian and curator. She is a self-taught sword swallower and performs in cabarets. Career Saunders is mostly known as a sword swallower. She has broken the Gui ...

Jess Robinson Jess Robinson (born 1982/1983) is an English comedy actress, singer, impressionist, voice artist and comedian. Early life Robinson was born in Edgware, London, in a non-religious Jewish family, the daughter of a piano teacher and artist, and g ...

Talisk Talisk are a Scottish folk band composed of Mohsen Amini, Benedict Morris, and Graeme Armstrong. The band rose to prominence after winning the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award and the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards "Folk Band of the Year" ...

, and other Celtic music bands.

History

Big Burns Supper was founded by Graham Main in 2011, who celebrated

with friends across the world and invited them to his hometown

on 25 January 2010, only to discover that there were no events that local people or visitors could take part in. He spotted an opportunity and created the Charity Trust that would take forward the idea alongside partners The Holywood Trust whose Trustees include the late

Charles Jencks Charles Alexander Jencks (21 June 1939 – 13 October 2019) was an American cultural theorist, landscape designer, architectural historian, and co-founder of the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres. He published over thirty books and became famous i ...

and EventScotland. The first festival opened on 25 January 2012 with a community theatre performance which included four characters that had been trapped in time which was presented on four giant screens.

Eddi Reader Sadenia "Eddi" Reader MBE (born 29 August 1959) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known for her work as frontwoman of Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards. In 2003, she showcased the wo ...

played a concert at DG One, and

Frisky & Mannish Frisky & Mannish is a British musical comedy double act, created and performed by singer Laura Corcoran and pianist-singer Matthew Floyd Jones. Known for their pop music parodies, the duo have toured the fringe festival and comedy festival circu ...

presented a comedy show at

Theatre Royal, Dumfries The Theatre Royal in Dumfries, Scotland is the oldest working theatre in Scotland. The Theatre is owned by the Guild of Players who bought it in 1959, thereby saving it from demolition. The Guild's aim is to promote the tradition of live theatre ...

. The festival opened a building in the centre of Dumfries called Electric Theatre Workshop which accommodated year-round community arts, including Dumfries Community Choir and Dumfries Youth Theatre. The building was officially opened by Countess Wessex on 9 May 2014. In the second festival in 2013, a

Spiegeltent A spiegeltent (Dutch for "mirror tent", from ''spiegel''+''tent'') is a large travelling tent, constructed from wood and canvas and decorated with mirrors and stained glass, intended as an entertainment venue. Originally built in Belgium during ...

was introduced to the programme which would become the festival hub and include different performances, many of which were created at the Electric Theatre Workshop.

Deacon Blue Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop rock band formed in Glasgow during 1985. The line-up of the band consists of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond. The band released their debut album ...

made their first appearance in the South of Scotland,

Manu Delago Manu Delago (born 31 July 1984) is an Austrian Hang player, percussionist and composer based in London. Biography Delago was born in Innsbruck, Tyrol, and took music lessons as a child in accordion and piano. As a teenager he mainly played dru ...

and Anda Union performed in the

, the festival's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

Hamish the Haggis was also created. Between 2014 and 2016, the festival continued to grow, presenting artists like

Black Grape Black Grape are an English rock band, featuring former members of Happy Mondays and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Their musical style fuses funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples. History Formation, first two albums an ...

, Red Bastard,

Andrew Maxwell Andrew Maxwell (born 3 December 1974) is an Irish comedian and narrator, known for narrating the MTV reality series ''Ex on the Beach''. Career In 1992, Maxwell tried stand-up comedy for the first time at the Comedy Cellar at The Internationa ...

and

Nassim Soleimanpour Nassim Soleimanpour (born 10 December 1981 (19 Azar 1360 SH), is an Iranian playwright. He is best known for his 2010 play ''White Rabbit Red Rabbit''. Early life and education Soleimanpour was born in Tehran, Iran. A debate was motioned in the Scottish Parliament about the festival by Joan McAlpine MSP. In 2017 the festival moved to a temporary base at

The Crichton The Crichton is an institutional campus in Dumfries in southwest Scotland. It serves as a remote campus for the University of Glasgow, the University of the West of Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway College, and the Open University. The site also ...

and created the festival village. This wasn't accepted by the festival fans who started a campaign, ‘nae-Spiegel nae-party’ to protest over the move. Festival organisers confirmed that they would be relocating the Spiegeltent back to the centre of

for the 2018 programme. 2018 was the festivals biggest programme, and also included the development of the Container Theatre which was adapted from old shipping containers.

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom ''Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows ''Never Mind the ...

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song " Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. Th ...

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primar ...

and

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

all performed in the Spiegeltent. In 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the festival presented free content on its

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channels through a Lockdown Festival between April and May, and Dumfries TV which ran for six episodes between August and October.

Artists

Artists that have appeared at the festival include:

Keb Mo Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician and five-time Grammy Award winner. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link ...

, Vicky Butterfly,

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

, Ed Byrne,

Public Service Broadcasting Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

Turin Brakes Turin Brakes are an English band, comprising original duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, and long-term collaborators Rob Allum and Eddie Myer. They had a UK top 5 hit in 2003 with their song "Painkiller (Summer Rain)". Since starting ou ...

Morcheeba Morcheeba is an English electronic band formed in the mid-1990s with founding members vocalist Skye Edwards and the brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey. They mix influences from trip hop, rock music, rock, folk rock and downtempo, and have produced ...

Seth Lakeman Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...

, Camille O’Sullivan,

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, ...

Hazel O'Connor Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''. Caree ...

London Community Gospel Choir The London Community Gospel Choir is Britain's first renowned contemporary "performance touring, inspirational gospel choir band", fusing gospel with multi-genres of music, including pop, soul, jazz, R&B, and classical. It was founded in 198 ...

Skerryvore Skerryvore (from the Gaelic ''An Sgeir Mhòr'' meaning "The Great Skerry") is a remote island that lies off the west coast of Scotland, southwest of Tiree. Skerryvore Lighthouse is located on these rocks, built with some difficulty between 18 ...

, Jason Byrne and the Peatbog Faeries,

Ocean Wisdom Ocean Alexander Alouwishas Wisdom (born 17 May 1993), known professionally as Ocean Wisdom, is an English rapper from Camden Town, London. His largest claim to fame is his debut single "Walkin'", in which he delivered lyrics faster than Eminem's " ...

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beat ...

, Dangleberries, Worbey & Farrell,

Badly Drawn Boy Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show ''Sam and his Magic Ball'', which he saw ...

We Banjo 3 We Banjo 3 was a band from Galway, Ireland that played a blend of Irish traditional music, traditional Irish, old time, and bluegrass music they called Celtgrass. The band was composed of two sets of brothers, Enda Scahill and Fergal Scahill and ...

, Trumpageddon,

, Marcel Lucont, Hope and Social, Soul Nation Choir, Brian Molley Quartet,

Dougie MacLean Dougie MacLean, OBE (born 27 September 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Described by AllMusic as "one of Scotland's premier singer-songwriters", MacLean has performed both under his ow ...

and Monski Mouse,

Peatbog Faeries The Peatbog Faeries are a largely instrumental Celtic fusion band. Formed in 1991, they are based in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Their music embodies many styles and influences, including folk, electronica, African pop, rock and ...

, Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5, Bombskare,

Birds of Chicago Birds of Chicago is an Americana/folk band founded in March 2012 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The band is led by husband and wife, JT Nero and Allison Russell. Russell is formerly of the Canadian roots act Po' Girl. The duo-fronted band ...

, Baby Love Disco,

Hardeep Singh Kohli Hardeep Singh Kohli (born 21 January 1969) is a Scottish presenter of Sikh heritage who has appeared on various radio and television programmes. Background Kohli was born in London and moved to Glasgow, Scotland, when he was four. His parents ...

, Hans Like a German, Hebrides Ensemble,

, Jock Tamson's Bairns, Ed Byrne, Craig Charles Funk and Soul, Brainiac Live,

Tide Lines Glasgow-based 4 piece, Tide Lines, have grown their large & passionate fanbase through blistering live shows and their trademark anthemic songs. Bending the edges of a number of genres, their neo-folk/rock sound has massive appeal. This unique ...

Bootleg Beatles The Bootleg Beatles are a Beatles tribute band. They have performed over 4,000 times since their establishment in March 1980. History The Bootleg Beatles were formed by Andre Barreau, Neil Harrison and David Catlin-Birch, fellow London cast m ...

Alabama 3 Alabama 3 are a British/English musical group founded in Brixton, London in 1995. They are best known for their track "Woke Up This Morning", which was used for the opening credits of the TV series ''The Sopranos''. In the United States, the ...

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...

The Complete Stone Roses ''The Complete Stone Roses'' is a compilation of singles and B-sides by English rock band The Stone Roses. It was released in 1995 without the band's input by their record company Silvertone, with whom they were embroiled in a protracted legal ...

, Manran, Turbyne, Vishten, Calan, Absolute Elvis,

Keb' Mo' Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician and five-time Grammy Award winner. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link ...

, The Strange Doors,

The Kingdom Choir The Kingdom Choir is a British gospel choir based in London. It was founded by choir conductor and workshop leader Karen Gibson. After performing for more than 20 years, the choir became world-famous after being invited to perform at the wedding o ...

, Gary Stewart's Graceland,

Newton Faulkner Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born 11 January 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. He is known for his percussive style of guitar playing. In 2007 Faulkner's debut studio album ''Hand Built by Robots'' was ce ...

, Band of Burns, Rura, Turbyne, The Lutras, Claire Hastings, Smith & McClennan,

The Felice Brothers The Felice Brothers are an American folk rock/country rock band from New York.Bumgardner, Ed, 8 November 2007'Music Notes: Felice Brothers are earthy, their music visceralRelish Now!''. History The Felice Brothers got their start as a band pl ...

Hue and Cry In common law, a hue and cry is a process by which bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. History By the Statute of Winchester of 1285, 13 Edw. I statute 2. c ...

, Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer,

, ONR, Hardwicke Circus,

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and com ...

, Elephant Sessions, Electric Swing Circus, Peat & Diesel,

Nicola Benedetti Nicola Joy Nadia Benedetti (born 20 July 1987) is an Italian-British classical solo violinist and festival director. Her ability was recognised when she was a child, including the award of BBC Young Musician of the Year when she was 16. She w ...

, Craig Hill,

Hector Bizerk Hector Bizerk were an experimental hip-hop group from Glasgow, Scotland, featuring drummer Audrey Tait and rapper Louie. Formed in 2011, they were initially a duo. However later recordings saw them add Jennifer Muir (Synth, Percussion, Vocals) ...

Charlie Landsborough Charles Alexander Landsborough (born 26 October 1941) is a British country and folk musician and singer-songwriter. He started singing professionally in the 1970s, although his major success did not come until 1994 with his song "What Colour is ...

King Creosote Kenny Anderson (born January 1967), known primarily by his stage name King Creosote, is an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. To date, Anderson has released over forty albums, with his latest full length, '' Astronaut Meets Apple ...

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (UOGB) is a British musical ensemble founded in 1985 by George Hinchliffe and Kitty Lux as a bit of fun. The orchestra features ukuleles of various sizes and registers from soprano to bass. The UOGB is b ...

References

{{Reflist Edinburgh Festival Festivals established in 2011 Music festivals in Scotland Music festivals established in 2011 Scottish culture Cultural festivals in Scotland

History

Artists

See also

References