Following a pandemic-induced hiatus, the Airdrie Gaelic Society (AGC), a parent organization of the local Pipes and Drums band, will be once again hosting its annual Robbie Burns Dinner – the seventh iteration of its kind – on Jan. 29 at the Maritime Pub & Eatery.
Kevin Fraser, AGC treasurer and pipe major of the Airdrie Scot’s Pipes and Drums, said the Airdrie Gaelic Society was designed to encompass more than just the band, and added the yearly Robbie Burns Night celebrations have been a part of the local Scottish society’s tradition since approximately 2015.
“There were a few of us there were just playing together for the fun of it back before the Alberta Summer Games were held in 2014, so we’ve formalized the existence of the band for the summer games,” he said. “We’re doing the seventh annual Robbie Burns and we missed a year because of COVID (in 2021).”
Robbie Burns Night, or sometimes referred to as Burns Supper, is a celebration of the life and work of Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns, who lived from Jan. 25, 1759, to July 21, 1796. The suppers, which are normally held on or near the poet’s birthday of Jan. 25, are filled with traditional Scottish music, dancing, and grub.
“Robbie Burns is the national poet of Scotland,” Fraser said. “He was in his 30s or 40s when he passed – he wrote a huge amount of poetry and then of course, he was made the poet of Scotland.
“There was the Robbie Burns Society in Scotland that started celebrating his life and that’s kind of carried over once all the immigrants came over to Canada.”
He added some societies choose to celebrate Burns' date of death rather than his birth, which is later in the year.
According to Fraser, there is a fairly large number of residents in Airdrie who claim a Scottish heritage, and the city itself is named after a Scottish municipality. He is, himself, a fourth-generation Canadian with three out of four of his grandparents migrating to Canada from Scotland.
He said the annual Burns dinner, which serves as the society’s main fundraiser, usually has an average attendance.
“The biggest problem for us is because we’re so close to Calgary – a lot of our potential attendees attend an event in Calgary of some sort,” he said. “That’s the downside of being a bedroom community – we have to compete with the bigger city.”
Fraser said the Pipes and Drums band will be performing music to feast and jig to.
Traditional Celtic cuisine will be served, including the Scottish dish Haggis, traditionally comprised of minced meats with oatmeal and spices cooked in a sheep’s stomach.
“Traditionally, it’s the leftover bits and pieces of the animals,” he said. “Back in the day, there would have been the lords who would have gotten the prime pieces of meat and then haggis would have been made of the leftovers, which tricked down to the servant class.
“In Canada, it’s usually some beef and pork and oatmeal – it's kind of like a spicy hamburger with some oatmeal in it.”
Fraser added that he prefers to think of the dish this way so as not to think of what it might really consist of.
Other than Celtic cuisine, attendees can expect some traditional Scottish bagpipes and an address about Burns' legacy.
“And then we sit down to eat, and then the band gets back up and we perform a second half and do some more songs,” Fraser said.
“We also have some highland dancers lined up to come down during our performance that we’re actually going to play for them to dance to.”
In addition to the local pipe and drum band, performances at the dinner will consist of the Dance Through Life – adult dance and fitness studio performers, the Aurora Dance Academy, and the Celtic band Lowtide.
Finally, there will be a tasting for those who wish to imbibe in the traditional Scottish beverage of Scotch Whiskey.
All those in attendance will be required to show proof of vaccination or negative test as per the Restriction Exemption Program (REP).
