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Around Town Detail from Calum Colvin’s ‘Robert Burns’ reprinted with permission from the artist
Kirstin Innes rounds up our pick of tartan tomfoolery ahead of Burns Night
Hae meat, can eat N o sooner has the Year of Homecoming been safely consigned to the tartan time capsule than Burns Night 2010 rolls around, with the usual mix of traditional suppers, hardcore ceilidh action and the odd wee rebel event staying true to the Other Bard’s own spirit. (Disclaimer: events may not occur on actual Burns Night...)
In the first category this year, Glaswegians can choose to toast the lassies and laddies with a snigger, as Karen Dunbar and Jonathan Watson perform The Immortal Memory at Oran Mor’s Burns Night (Sat 23 & Sun 24 Jan) underneath Alasdair Gray’s amazing murals, or by honouring all the relevant traditions at House for An Art Lover’s Burns Evening (Mon 25 Jan), where the supper is accompanied by piping, poetry and music. Edinburgh’s supper-seekers might fancy High Street stalwart Whiski’s traditional Burns Night Supper (with music from Footstomping, Sun 24 & Mon 25 Jan) or a slightly more unusual version down the road at the Tass (that’ll be Supper With Burns, then, Mon 25 & Tue 26 Jan), where storytellers Linda Bandelier, David Campbell and Donald Smith stir something unco weird into your neeps.
If you’d rather dance to help digest your sheep’s stomach, there are a number of great ceilidh options around: at Conrad Molleson’s Burnt Offering (Jazz Bar, Edinburgh, Sun 24 Jan) – the cheeky ex- Shooglenifty guitarist/bassist/singer has roped a few friends in for a jam session. Edinburgh’s Corn
Exchange is all booked out in the name of charity: MSP Margo Macdonald hosts St Columba’s Hospice Burns Supper and Ceilidh there on Fri 23 Jan, and the following night the ever-popular Burns Reloaded does it all over again to raise funds for Children 1st. Meanwhile, all the cool kids will have shuffled off down to King Tut’s Birthday Burns Night Celebration (Sun 24 Jan), for a special night of aspiring and inspiring Scottish bands. Broken Records headline, there’s ceilidh from Whisky Kiss, and you still get your haggis, too.
Edinburghers more interested in the cerebral aspects of the celebration might enjoy in ‘Ev’n Winter Bleak has Charms to Me’, a lecture taking Burns’ words as a starting point to examine the National Galleries’ collections (Fri 22 Jan, National Galleries). Glaswegians more interested in burning their feet off in the name of charity might enjoy the Third Degree Burns Night Firewalk (see what they did there? Mon 25 Jan, St Enoch Square) in aid of Enable. Finally, the event we reckon the boy Burns himself would approve of the most: The Anti-Burns Night III: For Make Benefit of Glorious Magazine of Drouth (Fri 22 Jan, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow), promising poetry, theatrics, alt-gothic-country from The Dirt, with boozing and feeding (and possibly some wenching), and all for free!
See listings for all events, and Folk listings (page 76) for further ceilidhs.
www.list.co.uk/aroundtown Hitlist TALKS, WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS*
✽✽ Cryptic Nights The monthly night that aims to bring emergent artists and filmmakers into the public eye switches over into 2010 with WatchIt!, a multimedia dance odyssey by breakdancer and choreographer Tony Mills. CCA, Glasgow, Thu 4 Feb. ✽✽ First Thursday Trongate handily aggregates a bunch of great art and cultural venues on one site, and this monthly showcase is a great chance to experience a lot of it at once. The extended opening until 9pm reveals special events, tours and meal offers on the first Thursday of every month. Trongate 103, Glasgow, Thu 4 Feb. ✽✽ Strange Bird Zirkus Aerial Workshop A workshop in learning to defy gravity, on trapeze, silks, rope and hoop. Don’t worry if you’ve never so much as balanced your shopping budget before: there are various different classes for different levels. Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 23 & Sun 24 Jan. ✽✽ Open Source Creative Community Design Meeting Three lectures – on web accessibility, video visuals and an entrepreneurial idea – and the chance to win £250 for your creative skills. Forest Café, Edinburgh, Sat 30 Jan. ✽✽ Curtain Up: 40 Years of Scottish Theatre See picture caption, page 33 National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Tue 26 Jan, 6pm, 623 3918. 21 Jan–4 Feb 2010 THE LIST 31