For Auld Online... log on to a Burns supper
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced this year’s traditional Burns supper into cyberspace, with people being encouraged to celebrate the Bard online.
Researchers at Glasgow University will today launch an interactive global map featuring more than 2,500 such events.
With many celebrations cancelled this year, the academics are asking Scots around the world to share photos of how they are marking the event using the hashtag #VirtualBurnsNight. The university is working in partnership with the Scottish Government, which is encouraging people to have a ‘Burns Night In’ this year.
Fans of the Bard will be able to join in a toast on social media.
The interactive map is part of the Burns Supper in history and Today project.
It features virtual ‘suppers’ across five continents and gives an inventory of their menus, settings, entertainment and orders of ceremony. Dr Paul Malgati, a research assistant on the project, said: ‘We have already sent out invitations across more than 140 countries.
‘These include Scottish societies, pipe bands, Burns clubs, Scottish country dance groups, libraries, museums, schools and universities, which all hosted a Burns supper or a Burns Night celebration in recent years.
‘The chief purpose of this is to pay a fitting tribute to Robert Burns despite Covid-19.’
Culture Secretary Fiona hyslop said: ‘Although we are unable to meet up physically this year, we can still come together and continue the traditions of Burns Night from the safety of home.
‘This map is an excellent accompaniment to the range of virtual events taking place this year showcasing an incredible array of artistic talent and I encourage everyone to get involved.’
This year is the 220th anniversary of that he first Burns Supper, held in Alloway in 1801 to commemorate the date of the Bard’s passing in 1796, rather than his birth on January 25, 1759.
It is estimated nine-and-a-half million people take part in a Burns supper every year.