New format for Big Burns Supper

BIG Burns Supper has announced a ‘totally revamped format’ for next year’s event.

At the heart of it will be the Northern Lights programme featuring 14 sound and light installations as part of a free town-wide trail across Dumfries.

It will run from January 15-19 and also include a five-day Winter Food and Drink Village.

Also new is the Burns Light historical retelling of Robert Burns and his resting place at the Burns Mausoleum. A new music score will bring the mausoleum to life through an audiovisual projection which will be beamed onto the monument over the five days.

Other highlights include: Phantom Spectra, which will explore the town’s 200-year history with the travelling fair community; Light Reading at the Ewart Library; glow-in-the-dark table tennis for young people; Immortal Memory at Greyfriars Church; and Norway Haus at the Venue Nightclub.

Returning will be Divided, which first appeared at the festival last year and takes place inside in an abandoned nightclub; the Lights of Hope trail; and Washing Line in Gass House Close will bring forgotten voices back to life in a re-working of this favourite installation from 2017.

Meanwhile, Birds on a Wire is new and will be the centrepiece of the festival on the High Street, allowing spectators to interact with birds who have visited the town centre by sitting on a telephone wire.

Also new is Biofluorescence created by Summerhill Community Centre in partnership with RSPBS Scotland.

Finally, Dumfries Carnival will take place on January 17 with a cast of over 2000 and an outer space theme, while the details of Burns Night are yet to be announced but there will be a Le Haggis ‘treat’.