Burns Night
25 January 2026 — Raise a glass! Tonight the pipes play for the poet Burns!
Burns Night is held around 25 January, the birthday of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, born in 1759. The first such supper was held in 1801 by his friends at his birthplace in Alloway, five years after his death in 1796, to honour his memory. Later, admirers began gathering on his birthday instead. Today the evening is widely celebrated in Scotland and among Scottish communities around the world. The highlight of the traditional programme is the piping in of the haggis, a dish of minced sheep's heart, liver and lungs mixed with oatmeal, onion and spices, traditionally cooked in a sheep's stomach. Someone then recites Burns's poem „Address to a Haggis“. Dinner follows, usually haggis with „neeps and tatties“ (turnip and mashed potato), together with whisky, toasts and readings of poetry. The evening often ends with „Auld Lang Syne“, the song that many people around the world also sing at New Year. The date follows the solar calendar and never moves. In January the nights are long, so it is a good time to enjoy the winter stars.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure made of luminous dots and fine lines, like a constellation, a kilted piper playing the bagpipes and carrying a steaming haggis on a platter, drifting slowly across the night sky
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