Luxembourg Burns Supper Celebrates Life of Scotland's National Poet

On Friday 23 January 2026, the Hotel Parc Belle Vue in Luxembourg City hosted the 43rd edition of the Burns Committee of Luxembourg’s Burn Supper.

A packed room saw 114 people in attendance to celebrate the birthday of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns (born 25 January 1759; died 21 July 1796). Many of the men had adorned the traditional Scottish kilt, with the ladies adding flashes of tartan to their evening dresses as they showed their respect for Rabbie, the “Plowright Poet”, a reference to his humble beginnings on the farms of Ayrshire in southern Scotland.

To the people of Scotland and Scots around the world, the works and life of Robert Burns hold a special place in the country’s culture, with his writings holding a significance akin to that of William Shakespeare for the English.

Setting the atmosphere in the room were Scottish musical duo "Heelster Gowdie" (consisting of multi-instrumentalists Russell Wheeler and Vincent Mellon) who performed an acoustic set of Burns-themed music as the attendees enjoyed a standing reception before the main proceedings began.

With a packed programme ahead, the evening’s Chair, Margaret Ferns, instructed everyone to take their seats at their pre-designated tables so that the evening could begin. To open the event, Margaret welcomed the guests, who included British Ambassador to Luxembourg Joanne Olivier, before setting the decorum for the evening and detailing the programme for the event.

The opening speech was then followed by music by Heelster Gowdie, and a reading of the Selkirk Grace by Kate Fidler, a Scots-language prayer traditionally read before the evening’s food is served to the guests.

Further Burns-related music was then performed before the piper-in-residence, Anthony Orr (undertaking his final performance at these events, following appearances at the previous 42 Burns Supper events in Luxembourg), took to the floor with his bagpipes to perform the piping-in of the haggis. With the haggis carried in on a sliver salver (platter), it was paraded around the room to a stirring bagpipe soundtrack before being placed on a table in the middle of the room, in preparation for one of the highlights of the event, the address to the haggis.

The address to the haggis is the centrepiece of every Burns supper, involving a designated speaker reciting the Burns’ poem “Address to a Haggis” directly to the traditional Scottish dish before it is served up as part of the main meal. A theatrical and energetic rendition of the poem was undertaken by James Dunn, previous winner of the Luxembourg marathon. This highly entertaining part of the evening was met with rapturous applause upon completion. The haggis was then escorted back to the kitchen to be prepared for consumption.

After an extended musical interlude, the feast began with a traditional Scottish starter of Cock-a-Leekie (chicken and leek) soup, followed by haggis, bashed neeps (mashed turnips) and champit tatties (mashed potatoes), with equally impressive vegetarian equivalents made available to those who had requested them. This was followed by a dessert of ice cream and fruit and then coffee.

With everyone well fed, guest speaker, David Ryder took to the floor to deliver the next staple of the supper, the Immortal Memory. It was a highly amusing and anecdotal speech detailing Burns’ various works and tales of his short but prolific life and delivered with aplomb by the Englishman in front of the mostly partisan Scottish audience.

After another enjoyable musical break, it was time for the two less traditional speech of the night, firstly in the form of the "Toast to the Lassies" delivered by Joe Shields, and the "Reply to the Toast" performed by Julia Khalyavko. Each of these speeches is intended to be playful and less traditional than the others which feature throughout the night, deliberately taking turns to poke fun at the ladies and then the gentlemen in attendance. Neither disappointed, adding an additional layer of fun to an already humorous but respectful event.

For the last of the guest speeches, Lorraine Barclay delivered another Burns staple, this time the classic “Ode to a Mouse”. Her rendition of Burns’ addresses to a field mouse whose nest he has destroyed perfectly expressed the poet’s sympathy for vulnerable creatures and his meditation on the shared uncertainty and fragility of human and animal life.

Margaret Ferns, then returned to thank all those involved in the preparations of the evening before inviting all the guests to stand and close proceedings with a rendition of “Scots Wha Hae”, Burn’s patriotic rallying cry of defiance towards Edward I, King of England, and his invading forces.

With everyone in fine mood, it was then time for an hours’ worth of vibrant and amusing Ceilidh dancing, coordinated by Stephanie Robertson, which saw the attendees guided and corralled through a variety of traditional Scottish dance standards.

The event concluded with a final dance to the most famous of Robert Burns’ works, “Auld Lang Syne”.