1. THIS week sees the event of the year ... the legendary Govan/Kingston Burns Supper.The price of admission includes a three-course meal, performances from Dave Anderson (Gregory’s Girl, City Lights), Susie McCabe (Breaking the News) & Iain Robertson (Small Faces, River City ... pictured below) – with more acts to be announced – and an address from the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon.
The event is on Friday, from 6:30pm until midnight at the Go Glasgow Urban Hotel, 517 Paisley Road West, Glasgow. Tickets cost £45 per person (£35 unwaged) & can be purchased at this link.
2. “IF there’s one thing that makes wintertime in Glasgow great then it’s Celtic Connections.” That just about sums uo this great festival which celebrates Celtic music and its connections to cultures across the globe. My favourite part is the Festival Club, which this year takes place at the Glee Club in Glasgow’s Renfrew Street.
It’s an after-gig party every weekend of the festival with inspired line-ups that are never divulged before the night.You never know who you might catch doing a rare solo set, or having a jam in the bar! Tickets are £11. Explore the festival here.
3. THE boardwalk beach club is back. Today at Scotland’s Bondi Beack, aka Silverknowes at 50 Marine Drive, Edinburgh, you’re in for a treat. Enjoy 11 hours of live music, food trucks, from 9.30 until 4pm. Free
4. One of my favourite dive bars in Glasgow is The Rum Shack on the Southside and they always do a cracking alternative Burns Night. Reggae Burns is an evening of Burns poetry with a background of reggae music, celebrating the links between Scotland and Jamaica. Enjoy a three-course menu and a dram of rum or whisky for £20.
The event takes place on Wednesday at 7:30pm. All details at this link.
5. WE’RE a braw welcoming bunch in Scotland and as if to prove that point, Paisley does Burns night with a difference. A multicultural extravaganza hosted by Ferguslie New Scots, food trucks from all over the world. Music from local and global performers. At the Tannahill Centre, Paisley on Saturday from 1pm until 5pm.
Free entry, with some great food for sale.
6. THE National Whisky Festival returns to SWG3 as part of the Celtic Connections festival. Two tasting halls, housing more than 40 different exhibitors, with more different whiskies in the building than you could responsibly sample.
Your ticket (£35) gets you access to all the whiskies, your own NWF commemorative Glencairn Glass to take home, a programme, and 2 x £5 discount vouchers to use at the bottle shop. There will also be live performances from some of the best Celtic Connections talent.
Tickets available here. £38.50 Saturday, 12:30 until late.
7. ENJOY A rarely screened bio-pic of the legendary Rob Roy, with some great live music, at Dundee Contemporary Arts Cinema in Nethergate on Friday at 6pm.
The silent film stars David Hawthorne and was shot in the Trossachs and nearby Stirling Castle and features epic fight scenes, with over 800 men of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders enlisted as extras. the British Film Institute National Archive, the Hippodrome Silent Film Festival (HippFest) commissioned multi-instrumentalist and composer David Allison to create a new score.
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